and some more tidbits: http://www.allpar.com/model/upcoming.html
The Cummins straight-six diesel is still planned for future Rams and is to be coupled to the eight-speed automatic in 2011 or 2012; power was boosted to 800 lb-ft of torque.
VM Motori, now 50% owned by Fiat Powertrain, dominates Chrysler/Jeep in Europe. A Fiat diesel is reportedly being tested by Siemens for US certification in the 2012 Wrangler.
The V8 diesel should get around 18 mpg city, 23 mpg highway in the Ram 1500, producing over 250 horsepower and around 440 lb-ft of torque. It redlines at over 5,000 rpm, is quiet as a gasoline engine, and should appear around 2013-2014. The fate of the 4.2 liter Cummins V6 (190 hp, over 400 lb-ft) is unknown.
In January 2011, Sergio Marchionne said: “Do I want a future [for diesel light duty Rams]? Do we have the technology to get it done? Absolutely, yes. Do we have the engines to get it done? Absolutely, yes. Is there a market at this time? I don’t know. We can do it all, we have the engines, we have the know-how... and we’d love to do it, but the question is, will it sell. The Jeep Grand Cherokee is available with a 3-liter diesel in Europe, it takes me nothing to move it over here, we have to adapt it for the emissions standards, but is it going to sell here with a 3-liter diesel? ... The Wrangler is available, that’s something I think we need to take a hard look at, because certainly the core performance of that machine would be... there are great attributes of having diesel in a car, that's why they are popular as they are on the heavy duty side of trucks.”
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