Ram‘s new Laramie Limited luxury package pickup bowed yesterday at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show in true American fashion: with a pretty girl smiling at its’ side.

“The launch of the Ram Laramie Longhorn edition gave us a boost in the ultra-premium pickup segment and exceeded our expectations,” said Fred Diaz, President and CEO of the Ram Truck Brand. “Ram Laramie Limited offers customers an even wider selection of luxury models. We expect a lot of interest in the Laramie Limited.”

The Laramie Limited is to be one of two high-end packages available from Dodge subsidiary, Ram. It offers customers the luxury found in their Longhorn version, but without the cattle rancher theme that might scare people away who don’t wear ten gallon hats.

Style-wise,  you get a body colored front fascia, fog lamps, a chrome grill and 20-inch forged aluminum wheels. All HEMI, Cummins, and Ram badges are also replaced by small “Limited” badges. Climb into the cab and you’ll find the interior dressed in leather and lined with greystone piping. The center stack wears a piano black high gloss and gets chrome vent rings with liquid graphite side bezels.

Luxury features are also abound here, including a remote start system, backup camera, a heated steering wheel, adjustable pedals and front vented seats to keep you cool on those hot summer days at the job site. Don’t worry, we won’t tell the guys you’re using them.

GALLERY: RAM Laramie Limited

Dodge is jumping on the bikini band wagon, but can you blame them? There’s no denying that sex sells, especially with most of the pickup truck crowd.

That’s why Ram pairing up with Sports Illustrated and releasing a teaser ad just makes sense. The 37-second spot features a slender woman clad in diving gear and a black bikini walking out of the ocean and pulling a cloth from a Ram pickup. Nearly all the footage focuses directly on the model. The ad actually cuts out before you see more than a silhouette, but it’s got us wondering what’s up the shirt sleeves over at the Ram division.

You can watch the video after the jump.

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Set to bow at the 2012 Chicago Auto Show, Ram trucks has released details on a new luxury package called the Laramie Limited.

The Laramie Limited will be one of two top of the line packages available for Ram trucks and alongside the Laramie Longhorn edition will offer the same luxury but without the niche market that the Longhorn caters to with its specific south-western cowboy like theme.

The Laramie Limited will come with a body colored front fascia, fog lamps, a chrome grill, 20-inch forged aluminum wheels complete with Ram logo in the center, and will remove all HEMI, Cummins, and Ram badges to be replaced by a small italicized Limited badge. The interior is, as expected, completely adorned with leather from the seats to the center console, all complete with medium greystone piping along the edges. The center stack is trimmed in piano black high gloss finish and adorned with bright chrome vent rings and and liquid graphite side bezels.

The Limited package will also include all the typical comforts we have come to expect from a luxury automobile such as heated seats, navigational radio, remote start, back up camera, heated steering wheel, adjustable pedals and even front ventilated seats meant for cooling you down.

“The launch of the Ram Laramie Longhorn edition gave us a boost in the ultra-premium pickup segment and exceeded our expectations,” said Fred Diaz, President and CEO of the Ram Truck Brand. “Ram Laramie Limited offers customers an even wider selection of luxury models. We expect a lot of interest in the Laramie Limited.”

GALLERY: RAM Laramie Limited

Roush is to Ford what steroids are to athletics. While their modified vehicles are certainly less than common on the road, we usually see them materialize as Mustangs. That wont be true this time.

Instead, Roush Performance is going to work on the 5.0- and 6.2-liter V8 F-150 trucks. Customers have the option to buy a non-calibrated kit, or a pre-tuned version according to Roush specifications. Both kits take advantage of new Eaton rotors that reduce noise, increase air flow and consequently offer greater power potential.

The kit includes the supercharger, of course, as well as a cold air intake, 100mm mass air flow tube, a twin 60mm throttle body and a bigger intercooler. The tuner version of the kit is available now for the 5.0-liter model, while the Roush spec version will be available in early February. Properly installed, the kit is expected to boost your truck between 140 and 175 hp for a total 500 to 525 ponies.

Try fitting that kit with the 6.2-liter and you jump up to a whopping 700 hp. The tuner kit fitted to that model, however, won’t be available until a week from now and the tuned version in April.

Dont forget to read the sticker before you label this one a “buy,” as these kits will set you back $6,199 to $6,499 before the cost of installation. As with any serious engine modifications, make sure you talk to a qualified mechanic before tinkering. For example, these kits don’t come with new fuel injectors, something you’ll need before installation. A Roush salesman said during a phone call that they aren’t including injectors in the tuner kit because people often prefer to choose their own.

They can include injectors with the kit for the 5.0-liter engine but don’t currently offer injectors for the 6.2-liter engine. When the tuned version ships, they say it will include everything necessary for complete installation.

Don’t have the V8, or just uncomfortable with engine surgery? It’s ok, there’s no need to feel left out of the fun. You can still bolt on a roush cold air intake to any F-150 and all models for between $340 and $400. High performance exhausts are also available on all models save the 3.7-liter V6.

There’s been quite a lot of talk over the last few years concerning the replacement for Nissan‘s venerable Titan full-size pickup.

After the plan to offer a Ram based vehicle went away, following Chrysler’s bankruptcy and subsequent restructuring, Nissan chose to go it alone when it came to a next generation big pickup, bringing the entire development and engineering process in-house.

However, those plans, which reportedly would have seen a revamped Titan rolled out in 2013, have now been pushed back at least a year, largely as a result of supplier fallout from Japan’s natural disaster back in March. This has left the automaker scrambling to get production back on track as a top priority, diverting resources away from some upcoming vehicle programs.

As a result, during a Q&A session with Automotive News at the LA Auto Show last month, Andy Palmer, Nissan’s vice president for vehicle planning and program management, stated that, regarding a new Titan, “we will come out a little later now. I have made the decision.”

As to what form the new Titan will take, or which powertrains it will offer, little is known at this time, though expect V6 and possibly V8 engines as well as extended and crew cab models. It’ll be also interesting to see if Nissan will attempt to target heavier-duty customers with this one (it’s Titan based NV van currently comes in 1/2 ton, 3/4 ton and 1-ton configurations).

Perhaps the most exciting addition to the new Titan, however, will be the addition of a Cummin’s sourced diesel engine.

[Source: Autoweek]

The Big three do some things really, really well: like building pickup trucks that turn construction guys giddy. While each company has had their fair share of foibles over the past decade they’ve managed to stay more-or-less true to themselves.

That’s why you might be really surprised to find out that Chrysler announced plans today to deliver ten plug-in electric hybrid (PHEV) Dodge Ram 1500s to DTE Energy of Detroit.

Many members of the truck community would probably snort at the idea of marrying hybrid technology with their go-to workhorse, but Chrysler isn’t convinced it’s such a bad idea. So far they have distributed a total of more than 100 test vehicles throughout U.S. cities with the intent to gather market research.

“Cities have been carefully selected to help the Chrysler Group LLC collect a wide range of data,” said Abdullah Bazzi, senior manager of Chrysler’s advanced hybrid vehicle project.

Chrysler maintains that this is strictly a test program for now with no plans for production versions of the trucks in the future, but the trucks will driven over the next three years to evaluate several factors that the company will use.

They plan to test charging performance, real-world performance, city drive cycles and fuel economy. Just because there’s hybrid technology on board, don’t assume these trucks are packing less of a punch. They have the option to run in four or two-wheel drive to save fuel but you’ll find a plenty-potent 5.7-liter Hemi under the hood.

The project, funded both by Chrysler and the Department of Energy, is also developing a similar fleet of 25 PHEV Town & Country minivans.

Toyota is looking to finish development of a hybrid version of its Tundra full-size pickup next year, with plans to bring it to market shortly thereafter. The project is in cooperation with Ford, and is the plan would likely see the American automaker roll out a hybrid F-150 shortly thereafter.

Next year will also see the launch of the Prius plug-in hybrid and Prius c sub-compact as the Japanese automaker says it could double its hybrid sales in North America to 400,000 by 2015. Globally Toyota hopes to bring hybrid sales to 1.2 million that year, up from 690,000 last year. To reach that goal, the Japanese auto giant will look to continue to expand its offerings, with more hybrid versions of conventional models.

According to R&D boss Takeshi Uchiyamada, hybrids are a growth strategy for Toyota. He admits that the company has lagged behind in new transmissions and hybrid technology, with Toyota betting instead on a longer-term payoff of hybrids as a mainstream alternative.

To continue this growth strategy Toyota is being forced to deal with the rising yen and will, as a result, begin moving production of hybrid vehicles and their components out of Japan. Currently only the Camry Hybrid is built in North America, although the hybrid components continue to be manufactured in Japan.

[Source: Automotive News]

While there are merits to the safety benefits from riding in a taller, heavier vehicle, there are disadvantages as well. According to safety evaluations from NHTSA, the 2012 Chevrolet Suburban suffered a rollover during a side-impact crash test.

Simulating a passenger car striking the driver’s side at 38 miles an hour, the inertia caused the Suburban to land on its side. Along with the Ford Escape and the Nissan Rogue, the Suburban is the third current-model SUV to tip over during the side-impact test. In typical cases, vehicles should only skid on all four wheels.

From plugging in parameters into a mathematical formula, the NHTSA projects that the Chevrolet Suburban has a 24 percent risk of rolling over in a single accident. Neither GM or NHTSA has responded to requests for comment on the crash tests. Moreover, other than the rollover concern, the Suburban earns top scores in both frontal and side impact crash safety for occupants. However, the overall rating was only dropped to four out of five stars because of the mentioned rollover calculations.

GALLERY: 2012 Chevrolet Suburban Side-Impact Crash Test

[Source: The Examiner]

The Detroit Red Wings, one of the most decorated hockey teams and the winner of the most Stanley Cup Championships ever, announced that the Ram 1500 Express 4X4 Crew Cab is named the “Official Truck of the Red Wings.”

In partnership with the Great Lakes Business Center and local Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge and Ram dealers, the Red Wings Ram will featured Red Wings logged front-seat headrests, optional Red Wings embroidered leather seats, “Detroit Red Wings Edition” graphics on the tailgate and rear ed sides and will come in red, white, or black. Red Wing Rams will only be available in limited amounts at local Ram dealers.

Director of the Great Lakes Business Center, John Plecha, says, “The Red Wings and the Ram share the same values of hard work, toughness, and the determination to win. It is this passion that the brand captures in new creative elements produced specifically for our partnership and built off of Ram’s successful Guts Glory campaign.”

This partnership will not only materialize in a special edition truck, but a whole marketing front that includes television and radio spots, billboards, and newspaper print ads, and a new in-arena chant, “HEMI! POWERED! HOCKEY!” to get the people going.

After ceasing production in 2009, the TrailBlazer SUV will be back for the 2013 model year, with Chevrolet debuting a concept version of the truck at the Dubai International Motor Show.

Chevy is promising the 7-seater will deliver crossover fuel efficiency, despite being a body-on-frame SUV, thanks in part to its new 2.8-liter Duramax turbo-diesel 4-cylinder engine. Of note, GM claims the third row isn’t an afterthought, boasting the most third row legroom of any mid-size SUV, with tumble or fold-flat seats.

“The growing markets of the world want flexibility. That means power and capability combined with comfort and efficiency,” said Brad Merkel, GM’s global vehicle line executive for midsize trucks and SUVs. “TrailBlazer does it all. You can tow anything, go anywhere, comfortably seat seven people, and do so with the fuel efficiency associated with a smaller, less capable vehicle. It’s the complete package.”

Sharing its underpinnings with the new Colorado pickup, the TrailBlazer will be sold around the world, starting in Thailand in early 2012.

“It is a reflection of the importance of the Middle East market for General Motors that a vehicle as important as TrailBlazer is making its global debut at this show,” said GM Middle East Operations President and Managing Director John Stadwick. “Without question, the new TrailBlazer will be one of the biggest and toughest members of the Chevrolet family – the perfect vehicle to take on the Middle East’s competitive midsize SUV segment.”

GALLERY: Chevrolet TrailBlazer Concept

Images taken at a Chevrolet press event held in India recently reportedly reveal the design of an upcoming Chevrolet TrailBlazer Concept, confirming Chevrolet’s intentions of bringing back the Trailblazer moniker for 2013. The revamped Trailblazer will feature a body-on-frame SUV based off of the new Colorado.

The 2013 Trailblazer will be available in both rear-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive models, looking to fight it out against the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Toyota 4Runner. GM has already confirmed the return of the Trailblazer, but has yet to say if, like the Colorado, it will be offered in the U.S.

GALLERY: 2013 Chevrolet TrailBlazer Concept

[Source: DriveArabia via The Car Connection]

America’s most popular vehicle hasn’t gone unnoticed at the 2011 SEMA show, as Ford brought out a few customized concepts showing what tuners can do with the Ford F-Series pickup trucks.

First up is the 2011 Ford F-350 Super Duty by Superlift Suspensions, a show vehicle prepped in collaboration with Matchbox. Painted in an outrageous shade of orange, the truck features a 10-inch lift kit, 41 inch Interco IROK tires and all kinds of emergency lights, brush bars and other gear designed to resemble a Matchbox die-cast emergency vehicle. The truck is absolutely massive in a way that photographs simply can’t capture, but the effect is stunning.

Hulst Customs also showed off an F-350 Super Duty, though the aesthetic is very different from the Matchbox vehicle. Clad in a glossy black paint scheme with a silver hood and a custom stainless steel grille, the Hulst truck barely scrapes the ground, and is focused more on luxury than utility. Rear suicide doors with a Scissor Doors hinge kit allow access to an opulent, leather-and-wood lined interior while the gigantic alloys show that this truck is staying on the pavement at all times.

Also on display was an F-650 customized by Mobsteel, dubbed the “Hollow Point”. Said to be “a huge dose of pure gangster attitude”, the Hollow Point rides on 24″ rims and features a Caterpillar C7 engine and a 6-speed Allison transmission. PPG paint and a 2600 watt JL Audio System round out the whole package.

Gallery: Ford F-Series