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Winnebago Trend, Travato are first ProMaster-based RVs

While Ford has been the dominant supplier of chassis, engines and platforms for the recreational vehicle industry in modern times, its market share has been eroded by the increased availability of new commercial vehicles on the market. In the days of Daimler-Chrysler, the Sprinter was Chrysler's alternative to the Ford E-Series as a basis for Class B and C motor homes. But then Daimler split and the Sprinter went back to being a Mercedes product in the US, though it still continued currying favor in the RV world by offering diesel power with a smaller footprint. With the marriage of Chrysler and Fiat, though, the Pentastar brand once again has a foreign-sourced commercial van alternative - the Ram ProMaster - and Winnebago is the first RV manufacture to make it into a motor home.
Actually, Winnebago has unveiled a pair of ProMaster-based RVs: the Trend and Travato. The Trend is a Class C motor home, which generally means it's based on the chassis cab version of a van and features a bed over the cab and larger body for living space behind the B-pillars. Available in a tidy 24-foot length, the Trend can be had with two floor plans, both of which include large sleeping areas, a bathroom, kitchen and a dinette. The Trend also has some unique touches, including seats in the cab that swivel around to face the rear and three-point seat belts for the dinette.
The second ProMaster-based Winnie is the Travato, a Class B motor home, which is basically the full van model with as many amenities for living crammed into its quarters as will fit. The Travato measures in at just under 21 feet in length, but packs the full RV experience into the ProMaster's tall body, including a double bed, full bath, kitchen and dinette. The rear bed can even flip up and out of the way, allowing stowage of larger things likes bikes through the van's rear double doors.

Stellantis not looking for further mergers, including with Renault

MILAN — Stellantis Chairman John Elkann on Monday denied the carmaker was hatching merger plans, responding to press speculation about a possible French-led tie-up with rival Renault. Elkann said that the Peugeot owner, the world's third largest carmaker by sales, was focused on the execution of its long-term business plan. "There is no plan under consideration regarding merger operations with other manufacturers," said Elkann, who also heads Exor, the Agnelli family holding company that is the largest single shareholder in Stellantis. After abandoning the Russian market, at the time its second largest after France, and reducing the scope of its global cooperation with Nissan, Renault has been seen as a potential M&A target. Speculation intensified after an electric vehicle market slowdown forced it last week to cancel IPO plans for its EV and software unit Ampere. Its market cap remains stubbornly low at little over 10 billion euros ($10.8 billion) despite a financial recovery over the past few years. Stellantis, the product of a 2021 merger between France's PSA and Fiat Chrysler and one of the most profitable groups in the industry, has a market cap of more than 85 billion euros when unlisted shares are factored in. It has a 14 brand portfolio also including Citroen, Jeep, Opel and Alfa Romeo. NEWSPAPER REPORT Italian daily Il Messaggero had said on Sunday that the French government, which is Renault's largest shareholder and also has a stake in Stellantis, was studying plans for a merger between the two groups. A spokeswoman for Renault said on Monday the group did not comment on rumors. France's Finance Ministry had declined to comment on Sunday. Stellantis has crossed swords with the Italian government, which has accused it of acting against the national interest on occasions. Industry Minister Adolfo Urso last week raised the prospect of the Italian government taking a stake in Stellantis to help to balance the French influence. Renault shares pared gains after Elkann's comments to stand 1.2% higher by 1220 GMT, having initially risen more than 4%. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, a Portuguese-national, last week said in an interview with Bloomberg that the group was "ready for any kind of consolidation" and that its job was to make sure that it would be "one of the winners". Analysts, however, question the rationale of a Stellantis-Renault merger, which would also expand the group's excess capacity in Europe.

Raminator sets world record for fastest monster truck [w/video]

Monster trucks are made for a lot of things: crushing jalopies, jumping over jalopies, wowing spectators while crushing and jumping over jalopies, and so on. But powerful as they tend to be, monster trucks are not built for outright speed. Still, one has to be faster than another, and as it turns out, Raminator is the fastest of them all. Alongside Rammunition and the new Mopar Muscle, Raminator is one of three Ram-based monster trucks run by the Hall Brothers Racing Team with support from Chrysler. It's been named Truck of the Year by the Monster Truck Racing Association a record eight times, its driver Mark Hall has been named the association's Driver of the Year nine times and its crew chief Tim Hall its Mechanic of the Year five times. And now Raminator and the Hall Brothers have claimed the Guinness World Record for the fastest monster truck, recording a top speed of 99.10 miles per hour to break the previous record of 96.8 mph. The record was set at the Circuit of the Americas, the 3.4-mile track built on the outskirts of Austin, Texas, to host the United States Grand Prix. Aside from Formula One, the track has hosted endurance racing, touring cars and motorbikes, and while Raminator may not be the fastest vehicle ever to lap the circuit, it's surely one of the biggest. Scope out the video from the record run below. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Raminator Monster Truck and Hall Brothers Racing Team Shatter Guinness World Records® Record: Fastest Speed for a Monster Truck America's fastest growing truck brand breaks speed record for monster trucks at Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas December 15, 2014 , Auburn Hills, Mich. - Raminator, a monster truck sponsored by the Ram Truck brand, has broken the Guinness World Records® record for the "Fastest Speed for a Monster Truck" at Circuit of The Americas in Austin, Texas. Hitting a new record speed of 99.10 miles per hour (mph), Raminator and driver Mark Hall secured the Guinness World Records title at 8:44 a.m. (CT), breaking the previous record of 96.8 mph. As the fastest growing truck brand in America, the Ram Truck brand is a long time sponsor of the fastest Monster Truck, the Raminator. The Ram-sponsored monster truck lineup includes the 2014 Monster Truck Nationals Champion Raminator and Rammunition, sponsored since 2002. In 2014, Mopar also introduced Mopar Muscle; the monster truck it sponsors.