The 2012 Ram 1500, the winner of PickupTrucks.com's Best $30,000 Truck Shootout.

Congratulations, Ram!

The shootout put five pickups that cost no more than $30,000 in head-to-head testing to determine which was the best bang for a shopper's buck. The Ram took the title because of its outstanding performance in payload capacity, 0-60 testing and handling as well as its impressive array of features for the price. Overall, the Ram not only outperformed the other four trucks, but it also had the fewest sacrifices or compromises feature-wise. The ST Quad Cab is our Best Truck for $30,000. Ram found the winning formula that balances price, performance and features.

 

Read more: http://special-reports.pickuptrucks.com/2011/09/30k-shootout-results.html

Chrysler Group Conquers Ideal Vehicle Awards

Great news for Chrysler!

The Chrysler Group’s resurgence continued to gain steam recently, with Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler all scoring impressive honors in AutoPacific’s 2011 Ideal Vehicle Awards. The annual measure of what vehicles best meet customers’ automotive ideals was based on feedback from more than 72,000 drivers across 15 key product attributes including power, acceleration, roominess and fuel efficiency. According to the study, “The cars or trucks that owners would change the least are the most ideal.”

Taking home top ranking among all mainstream/popular brands was the Chrysler division, which also earned acclaim for offering the most-appealing minivan, the Chrysler Town & Country. The automaker’s sophisticated minivan was significantly refreshed for the 2011 model year with a wide range of upgrades that have clearly struck a chord with today’s buyers: In addition to its recent Ideal Vehicle Award, the Town & Country also was the highest-rated minivan in both the 2011 J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study and AutoPacific’s 2011 Vehicle Satisfaction Awards—in which Chrysler was again chosen as the top mainstream brand.

The 2011 Ideal Vehicle in the “Sporty Car” segment was the Dodge Challenger, and, as was the case with the Town & Country, this recognition from AutoPacific follows the Challenger’s own segment win in the Power Initial Quality Study. But this dynamic Dodge then ups the ante even further with category victories in the Strategic Vision Total Quality Awards and J.D. Power and Associates Automotive Performance Execution and Layout (APEAL) Study.

And there’s a similar story in the Mid-Size Sport Utility segment of the Ideal Vehicle Awards, where the Jeep Grand Cherokee prevailed—adding more hardware to a trophy case that already holds this year’s class kudos from the Total Quality Awards and Vehicle Satisfaction Awards.

The multiple-award-winning Dodge Challenger, Chrysler Town & Country and Jeep Grand Cherokee are all available at local dealerships now.

Read more: http://www.chryslerinthenews.com/chrysler-group-conquers-ideal-vehicle-awards/#more-1035