Filed under: Truck, Plants/Manufacturing, Diesel, Ram



The diesel, half-ton pickup has long been a Holy Grail to many truck fans, largely because of its potential to achieve both high payload and great fuel economy. Strange, then, that auto companies have seemingly been slow to react. However, Chrysler is finally wading into the pool for the 2014 model year with a version of its Ram 1500 pickup, and early claimed returns are showing the advantage of being first on the market. The Auburn Hills automaker has just revealed that its initial allocation of 8,000 EcoDiesel trucks has been filled by dealers in just three days.

That flood of orders came from February 7-10, and that strong surge of interest apparently amounts to a new Ram record for the number of customer orders placed for a vehicle in such a short period of time. In fact, EcoDiesel models accounted for over half of Ram 1500 orders over that period, despite the fact that the diesel option costs several thousand dollars more than a comparable gasoline-engined model. That impressive total did not come entirely as a shock to Ram officials, however: "We knew customers have been asking for it," Nick Cappa, Ram Truck communications officer, tells Autoblog.

The 2014 Ram 1500 with its 3.0-liter EcoDiesel V6 and standard eight-speed TorqueFlight automatic makes 240 horsepower and 420 pound-feet - a combination good for 9,200 pounds of towing. Despite that pulling power, its fuel economy is rated at 28 miles per gallon highway (the best among trucks in its class), 20 mpg city and 23 mpg combined. Four-wheel drive variants gives up a single mpg in all categories.

Production of 2014 model-year trucks began in February, and shipments start in March. Ram expects EcoDiesel models to account for 10-15 percent of 1500-series orders this year. Another 8,000 units are allocated for March production, and according to Cappa, Ram has room to ramp up production if needed. In case you were wondering, you're not out of luck if you still want to get in on the first allocation of diesels. Individual customer orders take priority over dealers in Ram's computer system, so each one means fewer truck sitting on dealer lots. Scroll down for the full details.Continue reading Chrysler flooded with over 8,000 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel orders in 3 days

Chrysler flooded with over 8,000 Ram 1500 EcoDiesel orders in 3 days originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Feb 2014 10:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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i want to get one of these