2014 Ram 1500 Slt on 2040-cars

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Chrysler's internal documents question Ram quality as workers protest

Chrysler is reportedly having a hard time ramping up production of its 2013 Ram 1500. According to The Detroit News, only 16 of the 58 trucks built at the Warren Truck Assembly Plant during the model's first hour passed final inspection. While quality eventually improved over the course of the day, just over half of the units built on Thursday were approved for shipment. Even with workers ordered to stay late to fix their mistakes, some 1,078 units remained outside the facility with defects. The problem, according to workers at the plant, is morale.
According to the report, Chrysler recently changed the shift schedule at the plant and workers are unhappy with the new situation. The new plan has workers split into three shifts, each covering four 10-hour days. With the shifts staggered, some workers now have to work nights and on Saturdays. Some employees are so upset that they've taken to protesting, though the move isn't sanctioned by the United Auto Workers.
Meanwhile, Chrysler admits there were internal issues with the launch, but that the company was able to contain them. A spokesperson has said "plant quality indicators are getting progressively better."

Will Nissan's Cummins deal upset Ram's marketing mojo? [w/poll]

Ram has used Cummins engines in its heavy duty trucks since 1989, and it is the only pickup truck brand to use products from the Indiana-based engine maker. With the announcement that the next Nissan Titan will also use a Cummins powerplant, and a Nissan spokesman having already said "We will definitely leverage the Cummins brand name," a piece in Automotive News wonders whether the deal will affect the way Ram markets its tie-up with Cummins.
The question really is, how intense is this competition? While it is the first time that trucks from two different brands have used Cummins engines, they'll be two different engines in two different kinds of trucks; Nissan is going to put a 5.0-liter turbodiesel in a non-heavy-duty Titan, Ram only uses its 6.7-liter, inline six-cylinder turbodiesel in heavy-duty offerings. The diesel that Ram will offer in its light-duty, half-ton 1500 is a 3.0-liter V6 EcoDiesel with 240 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque - compared to about 300 hp and 550 lb-ft expected from the Titan's Cummins - and its marketing so far has focused on the fuel economy gains.
If Nissan was going to prove its commitment to the segment, it had to do something compelling. If we're talking about sales competition between Ram and Nissan, Ram has sold 201,633 trucks as of July this year, up 24.2 percent, 31,314 of those sales coming last month; Nissan has sold 10,020 Titans through the end of July, down 21.1 percent, and just 1,168 in July itself. Nissan's new truck boss - who hopped there from Ram - said that buyers have asked for a powerful turbodiesel in something other than a heavy duty pickup, and from what we've read on various comment boards, the pickup truck crowd is excited about Nissan's move.

Ram confirms Fiat Doblo-based ProMaster City for North America

As Sergio Marchionne flies back and forth between Turin and Auburn Hills, he doesn't just bring Chryslers back with him to Italy to sell as Lancias. He also brings Fiat products to sell Stateside under various Chrysler labels, chief among them Ram.
The former Dodge truck brand launched the Fiat Ducato as the Ram ProMaster earlier this year, giving it a greater foothold in the commercial vehicle market and a replacement for the Sprinter which Mercedes-Benz took back from its Chrysler-partnership days. Now Auburn Hills has announced that Ram will begin selling the Fiat Doblo on this side of the Atlantic as the Ram ProMaster City.
The Doblo, which was twice named International Van of the Year, has sold over 1.3 million units worldwide. Whether that includes the rebadged version which Vauxhall and Opel sell as the Combo is another matter, as is the question over how much longer Fiat and General Motors will continue that particular partnership as the ties between Fiat and Chrysler deepen.