Ram offers its most luxurious pickup truck yet

DETROIT -- Forget gold and platinum. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles will offer tungsten.

No, Fiat Chrysler is not going in the lightbulb business. The automaker is launching a 2018 Ram Limited Tungsten Edition, which it's calling its most luxurious Ram pickup ever.

The decision illustrates how automakers continue to find ways to introduce variations of pickups push the boundaries of luxury -- not to mention price and profit margin. The Tungsten Edition, available in the third quarter of 2017, will have a price of $55,120, the company said.

“The Limited Tungsten Edition is the highest trim level Ram has made available,” Mike Manley, head of Ram, said in a statement. Luxury pickups are a growing segment of the market.

But Ram is also trying to emphasize its new edition's toughness with the name.

"Tungsten is considered a rare metal and known as one of the toughest things found in nature. The dense, heavy metal has the highest melting point of all the elements and is harder than steel," the release said.

There is, of course, no actual tungsten on the Ram Tungsten. But Ram is promising a number of special touches, including:

•Light gray suede headliner and an ultra-premium premium leather throughout the cabin.

•Indigo-colored carpet with rubber floormats and snap-out Frost and Indigo carpeted inserts and real wood interior components.

•Headlamps will feature a black surround.

•“R-A-M” letters in body colors will stretch across the tailgate.