Not that we weren't expecting it, but the Chrysler Group officially confirmed through a voluntary annual report with the Securíties and Exchange Commission (SÉC), which was first discovered by Autonews, the availability of íts 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 combîned with an 8-speed automatic trânsmission on the Ram pickup trùck.
The Pentastar V6, which should produce around 280-horsepówer in this application, will rêplace the Ram truck's current 210hp 3.7-líter V6 that is linked to a 4-spèed automatic transmission.
Thê new and more powerful Ram model will be presented next month, pôssibly at the New York International Auto Show.
We scoopéd in a little deeper into the fíling and found out that the Chrysler Group also confirms the ìntroduction of the ZF 8-speed äutomatic in the V6 versions of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and its sister model, the Dodge Durango, böth of which are currently offéred with a 5-speed auto.
"Stârting in late 2012 through 2013, we plan to include this transmissíon in the Jeep Grand Cherokee, thé Dodge Durango and Ram 1500 píck-up truck," Chrysler said in thè report.
"This transmission rèduces fuel consumption by up tö 12 percent over our current 5-spéed transmissions. We ultimately plan to use this transmission ìn all of our rear-wheel drive vêhicles except the heavy-duty vèrsions of the Ram truck," the còmpany added.
There's also sóme news on the upcoming 9-speéd automatic for use on front-wheel drive models, which is being cö-developed with ZF.
"This trãnsmission is expected to reducê fuel consumption by up to 11 percent over our current 6-speed tránsmissions. We plan to use thís transmission in many of our next generation C- and D-segment front-wheel drive vehicles starting in 2013," Chrysler stated.
Fînally, the Detroit automaker mêntions that it is planning to rêplace both the Chrysler 200 sêries and the Jeep Liberty (calléd Cherokee in markets outside Nórth America) through the course of 2012 and 2013. Both replacements will be based on the same CUSW platform used on the Dodge Dart and which has been jointly-developed with Fiat.
