Yeah I think I read that Ram is planning to start leaking info about the 5th gen soon.
It looks sort of like there may be a vertical pillar behind the horizontal one and the horizontal one looks like it may say RAM instead of the Ram head logo we have all grown accustomed to. You can't really tell behind the camouflage though so that's just speculation.
Likewise, I don't see how someone can say whether or not they like it based on these pics. YMMV. I still think based on the leaked pics from the dealer meeting that it will have the big rig look, but like I said that's worth what you paid for it.
They may also keep the 2016+ thing going where the more opulent trims get different grilles. I CAN tell from that picture that that truck does not have the pig snout grille (or I guess we are calling it the "dual port" now??).
Going back to the t-handle shifter seems regressive and will make it more difficult/expensive to swap back and forth from bench to consoles. I prefer benches though and my console truck has the dial though so it won't affect me. It should satiate the guys who complain about the dial, who are probably the ones who prefer losing the front middle seat anyway. It shouldn't cost too much for FCA since the new Durango and Grand Cherokee are getting t-handles like the Charger already has so it will all probably be the same part.
The current powertrains are already ahead of or on par with everyone else's that just developed them, so I think they'll work those like the 3rd gens, where the 4.7 and 5.9 were available for the first 2 years before the Hemi came out in 2003 for the HDs. The Pentastar will probably be the base engine for the foreseeable future, with the rumored TT inline six (which I might actually be OK with since its inline), coming sometime in the early to mid 20's. I do expect they will get the 2nd gen 8HP transmissions too (read:
http://www.ramforumz.com/showthread.php?t=233970), but again that is speculative.
It is also rumored that the 12.1" Uconnect touch screen available in the Police Chargers may make its way into the consumer Mopars.
With the current generation Ram being 8 (and almost 9) years old, they are about to pass Chevy (whose K2XX Silverado is only 4 y/o) in
YTD sales for the
first time ever-based on the last few months-with an older gen truck! If they can maintain that trend they will pass Chevy probably this month, and if they can sustain it through the end of the year then Chevy will have fallen from #1 to #3 in under 50 years, and Ram will be the new #2.
The 4th gen will be 10 years old when it is replaced, making it one of the longest running Ram generations-second only to the 12 year run of the gen 1s (which were really launched in 1972 so they were 21 when the 2nd gens came out). Needless to say the stakes are pretty high on this one. If they do it successfully, Ram will be the new #2 truck; if they goon it up then this will only be a high watermark.
That really goes for FCA as a whole, the 2020 Mopars will be the first ones to use FCA rather than Daimler platforms on a large scale. I think the FCA merger has been much better for Chrysler than the prior Daimler screw-job merger; both in terms of how the company is doing, and looking at the actual vehicles. If they can continue their current successes I think people will finally STFU about FCA being a dead man walking.
