2014 Ram 1500 Slt on 2040-cars

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Ram thinks EcoDiesel will lure small-pickup buyers into fullsize 1500

One of the more curious developments at the Los Angeles Auto Show this week was the return of the Chevrolet Colorado pickup truck. General Motors ended production of the Colorado and its cousin, the GMC Canyon, early last year. At the time, the decision seemed to be the final curtain for small and midsize domestic pickups, as it followed Ford's decision to kill the Ranger and Chrysler's decision to end production of the Dodge Dakota.
Bigland argues the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel is essentially competing for the same buyers as the Colorado.
Does Chevy's revival of the Colorado mean a new dawn for the segment overall? Yes and no. The Colorado's reinvention essentially provides a peek at how automakers tackle the same problem in two different ways. GM's approach is to create a new midsize pickup. Chrysler's approach, on the other hand, would seem to focus more on the prospective buyer than the product itself.

Ram boss says not to expect midsize pickup in America

Remember that mysterious midsize four-door pickup FCA was spotted testing recently? It may be sold as a Fiat in markets overseas, but don't expect it to join the Ram lineup in North America. At least not according to the latest word from the truck brand's new boss. Speaking with Automotive News at the New York Auto Show, Ram CEO Bob Hegbloom outlined four criteria for a successful midsize pickup, particularly in the North American marketplace: they have less capability than a fullsize truck, but return with a more compact form, lower price and considerably higher fuel economy. "I've been able to develop a strategy to come up with three of the four," said Hegbloom, but "I haven't seen anyone who can deliver on all four." Smaller and less capable are easy, but getting both the price and the fuel consumption down at the same time is where it gets tricky. As it is, a Ram 1500 with the diesel engine and rear-wheel drive delivers 29 miles per gallon on the highway, which is already more than the 27-mpg rating on the midsize Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon. But Hegbloom figures that in order to justify a midsize pickup, American buyers would expect at least 35 mpg on the highway, and in order to do so, FCA would have to employ some trick tech, which would in turn raise the price beyond an attractive level. The last time Chrysler offered a midsize truck in America was with the Dakota that was discontinued in 2011. Ford similarly ceased offering the Ranger in North America in 2012, leaving the new Colorado and Canyon to take on the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Frontier in the compact/midsize pickup market in the US. With the prospect of a Ram version apparently off the table, then, Fiat's midsize four-door pickup is likely take on the likes of the Volkswagen Amarok, Mitsubishi Triton and Toyota Hilux in markets like Europe and South America. But like those trucks, it will likely never see the inside of an American showroom.

Chrysler 3.0L EcoDiesel V6: Autoblog Technology of the Year finalist

Offering a diesel engine in an American pickup is anything but new - Ford, General Motors and Chrysler all offer excellent and almost impossibly powerful oil-burning engines in their various fullsize trucks. What is new and novel about the 3.0L EcoDiesel, though, is its size, and the variety of vehicles that use it. It's the smallest engine, as far as displacement is concerned, currently offered in a large truck in the US, and, for 2014 and 2015, it is available in the Ram 1500 and the Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Though it may be small, it's got muscle. While 240 horsepower isn't particularly impressive these days, the engine's 420 pound-feet of torque more than makes up for that. The torque rating is even greater force than even the big 5.7-liter Hemi can muster. Chrysler's well-regarded eight-speed automatic transmission makes the most of all that bull-headed pulling power in both the Ram and Grand Cherokee. Chrysler claims the Ram EcoDiesel 1500 can tow as much as 9,200 pounds when properly equipped, which makes it "90-percent of the Hemi with a night and day difference in fuel economy."
Make no mistake; it's that promise of a sizable fuel economy improvement that many long-haul truckers will be most interested in. In the Ram 1500 that we tested for our Tech of the Year competition, the diesel engine costs $2,850 more than the gas-fed V8, and Ram estimates that EcoDiesel buyers will pay off their investment when compared to the Hemi engine in less than three years, which is considerably less time than the 4.5 or so years the average buyer will keep his or her fullsize pickup. The more you drive, the more you'll save, and the math proves equally as effective in the Jeep Grand Cherokee.