Just as Chevrolet earlier reported that its 2013 Malibu Eco had become the first midsize sedan to receive NHTSA 5-Star Overall Vehicle Score and IIHS 2012 Top Safety Pick double safety honors, fellow American automaker Chrysler faces some controversy over its latest safety test.
The 2012 RAM 2500 Heavy Duty pickup truck comes with a 6.7 liter Cummins turbodiesel engine good for a 11,950 lbs. max towing capacity rating. Any vehicle capable of towing over 11,000 lbs. is plenty strong, without question, but an NHTSA crash test has revealed that, despite the Ram's toughness, it isn't a safe vehicle at all.
Business Insider reported that during NHTSA testing, the Ram was rather worse off with a two-star frontal crash rating and a three-star rollover rating. Rarely any modern vehicle scores two-stars anymore so this is a rather embarrassing test result for the RAM 2500. More critically, NHTSA left a shocking remark right underneath the unusually poor score, claiming that the engine bay started smoking before it caught fire shortly after the test.
Earlier last week, 24/7 Wall St. created a list of the worst-rated vehicles in NHTSA’s most recent tests. Not only has the RAM topped the list of worsts, but so far, it is also the only one to catch fire.
