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Chrysler Plans Diesel Option for Ram Pickups

Chrysler Group LLC says it will offer a V-6 diesel engine this autumn as an option in half-ton versions of its 2014 Ram 1500 pickup truck.

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Chrysler Group LLC says it will offer a V-6 diesel engine this autumn as an option in half-ton versions of its 2014 Ram 1500 pickup truck.

The 3.0-liter engine, dubbed EcoDiesel, will be supplied by Italy's VM Motori SpA, a 50:50 venture between General Motors and Fiat that has supplied diesels to Chrysler for 21 years.

The diesel will be paired with Chrysler's new 8-speed automatic transmission. Chrysler will offer the same powertrain in the 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV, where it will be rated at 240 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. The company has not indicated whether the Ram version of the engine will have the same output.

The diesel will join two gasoline engine options: a 3.6-liter V-6 and 5.7-liter Hemi V-8.

The half-ton diesel pickup will be Chrysler's first since it dropped that combination in 1978 (it also offers a diesel option in heavy-duty versions of the Ram pickup). The company says it will be the only truckmaker in the U.S. to offer a half-ton diesel pickup.

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