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Truckmakers squabbling over who can sell Jimmy Fallon a pickup

Snagging a celebrity endorsement is a big deal for automakers, as evidenced by the recent efforts of the Detroit Three to try and woo The Tonight Show's newest host, Jimmy Fallon, into one of their trucks.
After announcing during Wednesday night's show that he was in the market for a pickup truck, Fallon set off a firestorm of efforts on Twitter, with both Ford and Chevrolet petitioning the funnyman to test out a truck. According to Ad Age, Ford recommended the King Ranch edition of its next-generation F-150 while the show was still airing. Chevy, meanwhile, waited until the next morning to pitch a Silverado to Fallon.
The winner of this social media feeding frenzy, though, was Ram. Promoting a variation of its "Guts, Glory, Ram" tagline, the Auburn Hills-based manufacturer created the hashtag #GUTSGLORYFallon. It even went so far as to park a Ram 1500 outside 30 Rockefeller Center in New York, where The Tonight Show is filmed. On the back of the Ram sat a sign, reading "Big enough, Jimmy? Test it out," referencing a joke from the Wednesday show.

FCA's SEMA vans: A Ram ProMaster bar and a Mopar'd Pacifica

For this year's SEMA show, FCA created six machines that range from mild to wild, and what we have here are the two mildest examples: a custom Ram ProMaster and an accessorized Chrysler Pacifica. Of the two, the ProMaster is easily the more interesting. It's called the BrewMaster and it's a rolling bar. Get it? View 11 Photos The pub-themed interior has a variety of custom touches, including Mopar neon signs and beer taps with shift-knob handles. The outside gets some conceptual parts as well. The grille loses the crosshair design in favor of a large-font "RAM" badge in the center, similar to the one on the Ram Rebel. It also gets some custom 20-inch wheels and large fender flares to accommodate the wider rubber. The message here: Don't drink and drive, but definitely drive somewhere and drink. The Pacifica has far fewer custom goodies, and, sadly, no Hellcat powertrain, but that means what you see is something you could realistically replicate at a dealer. Called the Pacifica Cadence, this van is a rolling showcase of Mopar accessories. The newest piece is a running board that is designed to look like part of the sheetmetal, as opposed to a tacked-on aftermarket accessory. We'd say it's fairly successful if not super-exciting. View 7 Photos The Pacifica also features loads of other Mopar bits including the roof rack, dog kennel, all-weather floor mats, and wireless charging pad. Aside from the custom wrap and painted wheels, you could outfit your own Pacifica identically using a Mopar catalog. As for the BrewMaster, that might require a bit more custom work. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Image Credit: FCA, Joel Stocksdale SEMA Show Chrysler RAM Minivan/Van Concept Cars chrysler pacifica ram promaster SEMA 2016

FCA and UAW deal could mean huge production shakeups

The big labor contract between Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and the United Auto Workers is likely to lead to some very serious production shakeups across the company's North American manufacturing operations. That's according to a new report from Automotive News, which details the sweeping changes at no fewer than five production facilities in Michigan, Illinois, Ohio, Mexico, and Poland. So without further ado, here's what's going where, presented in easy to digest bullet form. Ram 1500 production would move from Warren, MI to Sterling Heights, MI Warren, MI would be retooled for unibody production and would handle the Jeep Grand Wagoneer and could potentially build Grand Cherokees to ease the strain on Detroit's Jefferson North factory Chrysler 200 production would move from Sterling Heights, MI to Toluca, Mexico Dodge Dart production would move from Belvidere, IL to Toluca, Mexic Fiat 500 production, which is currently handled by Toluca, would be concentrated in Poland, where the Euro-spec Cinquecento is built Jeep Cherokee production would move from Toledo, OH to Belvidere, IL to make room for Wrangler and Wrangler Pickup production Like we said, those are some big changes. But, as FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne said in an earlier interview with Automotive News, this kind of shakeup would make a lot of sense. In that August interview the exec said that automakers moved truck production to Mexico because they were "threatened" by the UAW. "The only thing [the UAW] want is to move the truck back. Which is right. If you move the truck back here, which is [the UAW's] domain, [and move] all the cars that we get killed on somewhere else, we could actually make sense of this bloody industry and actually increase the number of people employed in this country and really share wealth because we are making money," Marchionne told AN. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing UAW/Unions Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA toluca warren sterling heights