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By Bloomberg

The classic, rugged American pickup has become a lot more posh.

Ford Motor Co., General Motors Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV offer pickups that can top $60,000, and Ford, the segment leader, sells the most as a percentage of sales. About 31 percent of Ford pickups sell for more than $50,000, compared with 18 percent of Ram sales and 12 percent of GM’s Silverado, according to KBB.com.

To capture more of the high-end and high-margin business, Fiat Chrysler is refreshing the Laramie Limited version of its Ram pickup. The company is showing it off today at the Chicago Auto Show.

“There’s money to be made in that $50,000 category,” Michelle Krebs, an analyst with KBB, said in an interview. “We saw this in the last truck boom and everyone said it would never happen again, but here it is. People are buying trucks, maybe to haul trailers or whatever, but clearly there is an image element, too.”

The average selling price for a pickup has risen 9.5 percent to $44,036 since January 2013, according to KBB, while the average light vehicle price climbed 5.5 percent to $34,633. Trucks, SUVs and minivans outsold cars in every month last year, something that hadn’t happened since 2004.

The market also is strong for luxury vehicles, which have outpaced growth of the light vehicle market and are expected to continue to do so. Those worlds collide in premium trucks.

The current Laramie Limited starts at $49,430 and can top $60,000. Bob Hegbloom, head of the Ram brand, said a fifth of all Ram pickups sold are at the Laramie trim level or above, which starts at about $39,000. Ram hasn’t given prices for the new model.

Scheduled Release

The Ram 1500 version goes on sale in the second quarter as a 2015 model. The heavy-duty versions will be available in the third quarter as 2016 models.

The changes on the Laramie Limited were driven in part by a need to make the exterior match the quality of the plush interior, which includes wood trim and components, Berber floor mats and stitched leather, flap-enclosed seatback pockets, Hegbloom told reporters last month in Detroit.

The new Laramie Limited adds a lot more chrome to the front bumpers and side trim. The new version also revamps the grille, ditching the cross-hair pattern for a chrome one emblazoned with “RAM.”

The new look should appeal to the customer who, Hegbloom said, is telling him that “the interior is great, but I want people to know I’ve got a Limited.”