Changing course, Chrysler considers a small Ram pickup

Chrysler may develop a unibody small pickup positioned below the Dakota, whose production will end in 2011. "We're thinking of something that will separate itself from the full-sized truck more than what happens today, both in capability, price and size," said Joe Veltri, Chrysler Group vice president of product planning. "The Ram brand has room to expand into a compact-truck segment." Veltri, interviewed this month at the National Truck Equipment Association's Work Truck Show in St.

Ford C-Max at 2009 Frankfurt motor show

By Tim Pollard First Official Pictures 04 September 2009 00:01 This is our first look at the new Ford Focus family – in C-Max, midi-MPV form. Now called just the straightforward C-Max, having dropped the Focus part of its name, the new car will be shown at the 2009 Frankfurt motor show. However, there’s still quite a long wait until you can actually buy the new C-Max – it won’t roll into Blue Oval dealers until autumn 2010, when it will pitch into battle with the Renault Scenic and Vauxhall Zafira.

New technology combats drowsy driving

Auto supplier Takata is introducing a new driver-alertness warning system to the commercial trucking industry to keep drivers awake. The SafeTrak electronic vision system sounds an alert if a trucker is driving erratically or unintentionally drifting from a lane. A recent AAA study for traffic safety found that drowsy driving is a contributing factor in 16.5 percent of fatal car crashes in the United States.