Ram beefs up heavy-duty trucks for more towing

The Chrysler Group is upgrading its heavy-duty Ram pickups for the 2013 model to deliver what it says will be class-leading towing capacity. Diesel-powered versions also adopt selective catalytic reduction exhaust treatment to cut emissions and extend maintenance intervals. The automaker has also created a dedicated commercial vehicle team within the Ram brand to boost its business with fleet and work truck buyers.

Subaru Forester tops small SUVs in new crash test

The Subaru Forester and Mitsubishi Outlander Sport have won top honors from the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, becoming the only small SUVs to ace the group's new "small overlap" crash test. The Forester, which Subaru redesigned for the 2014 model year, earned Top Safety Pick+ accolades by scoring a "good" rating on the small overlap test, in which the front corner of the vehicle on the driver's side strikes a five-foot-tall barrier at 40 mph. "With the redesigned Forester, Subaru's engineers set out to do well in our new test, and they succeeded," Joe Nolan, vice president for vehicle research at IIHS, said in a statement.

Citroen Numero 9 'will influence all future DS models'

Citroen's Numero 9 concept car previews the new face of all future DS cars from the French manufacturer, the design chief told CAR. Thierry Metroz, director of design in Paris, said the Numero 9 was an ideas car, but admitted it would influence the look of production cars in the near future. 'Look very closely at the grille - it is much more three-dimensional,' he said.