Autos
Ram’s iPad-Size Touch Screen Emerges as Hottest Add-On in Trucks
- Fiat Chrysler makes headway in pickup segment with big display
- Consumers seek high-tech touches in trucks for work and play
To stay competitive in the U.S. truck market, outdoing rivals on torque and towing capacity with brute engines under the hood isn’t enough anymore. Winning over truck owners means your dashboard display screens have got to be big, too.
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV proved this with its redesigned Ram 1500 pickup, which features an Apple iPad-inspired 12-inch touch screen in the center console. The big display has helped vault the longtime laggard truck line into second place, surpassing General Motors Co.’s Chevrolet Silverado and seizing a 23% share of the fiercely competitive large truck segment in the first quarter, according to Edmunds.