2003 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty Wins Truckin' Magazine 'Truck of the Year' Award

LAS VEGAS, Nov. 7, 2002; The all-new 2003 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty 2500 pickup has won Truckin' magazine's "Truck of the Year" award, the publication's editorial director announced today. During an intensive three-week competition, the Dodge Ram 2500 4x4 Quad Cab with 345 horsepower worth of HEMI Magnum power upstaged all of its rivals in the competition.

"All of us at Dodge are elated that Truckin' named the all-new Dodge Ram Heavy Duty the winner of their 'Truck of the Year' competition," said Darryl Jackson, Vice President, Dodge Marketing. "With the debut of the new Dodge Ram Heavy Duty pickup trucks with HEMI and Cummins power, we have the strongest line-up of trucks ever assembled."

"The Dodge Ram 2500 pickup offers the ability to work hard and play hard, so Truckin' is especially pleased to acknowledge the excellence of the 2003 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty 2500 4x4," said Steve Warner, Editorial Director, Truckin'. "The Dodge Ram Heavy Duty 2500 is the personification of all things good in the exciting world of OEM trucks. Because we take pickup trucks seriously, we evaluate them for all their intended functions. And while we included pickups from every manufacturer in this test, the Dodge Ram proved to be most adept at showing us all the qualities enthusiasts look for in a four- wheel drive pickup."

All testing was conducted by the Truckin' magazine staff over the course of three weeks and included both empirical as well as subjective tests. The staff logged roughly 3,000 miles on each vehicle. Testing criteria included fuel efficiency, standing 1/4-mile mph, 0-60 mph numbers and 60-0 mph braking. The Dodge Ram 2500 4x4, completely redesigned for 2003, scored highly in every category. The all-new Dodge Ram Heavy Duty boasts the option of two or four standard doors, the all-new 345 horsepower 5.7-liter HEMI Magnum engine as standard equipment and the most powerful diesel engine available in a pickup, the all-new 5.9-liter High Output Cummins Turbo Diesel with 555 lb.-ft. of torque.

The Truckin' "Truck of the Year" competition will appear in the February 2003 edition of the magazine. Information about the all-new 2003 Dodge Ram Heavy Duty pickup is available on the web at www.dodge.com .