In its second year as a standalone brand, Ram Trucks has positioned itself to take advantage of growing sales to small businesses and commercial fleets with the 1500 Tradesman.

Available in two or four wheel drive, the regular cab Tradesman offers a 10,400 pound towing capacity and 1,600 pound payload, to help the truck maker extend its sales gains to 10 straight months.

“Ram sales were up 9 percent in 2010 from 2009,” said Fred Diaz, president and CEO of Ram Trucks. “We gained 5 full points of market share as well by delivering the best work truck in the industry.”

To put an exclamation point on that, the Ram 3500 HD also bowed at the Chicago Auto Show, with a 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel engine that not only generates 800 pound-feet of torque, but also provides a 22,700 pound towing capacity. It hits showrooms in the second quarter.