Ram Division?

[rb336]

I'm not sure if that move is moronic or brilliant, but to me, it seems Fiat is going to either dump Dodge as a car brand or sell Jeep or the truck division

[gazhekwe]

You mean like Chrysler did with AMC, dumped everything but Jeep? Renault got some of the cars, they were Renaults.

[EMG]

Based on the sales figures it ought to be pretty clear at least to anybody outside of Detroit that Chrysler's days are numbered, so Ram's best / only chance of survival anyway would be to get picked up by another taker, if it can.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blu...t-another-year

[douglasm]

Assuming there's new product in the pipeline, I don't think the overall plan is that bad of an idea. The company has a bit of a Mercury problem with Chrysler, in that except for the 300, it's hard to tell Dodge and Chrysler aparr, and if they're going to sell them out of the same dealership consumers better be able to tell the difference between an Avenger and a Sebring.

Dodge has it's own problems in that it's almost a truck line. By separating Ram from Dodge, the company is trying to reestablish the Dodge brand's automobile line separate from trucks. Ram is a decent name for the truck line, and at least in part, pulls it away as a product from Dodge cars.

[KENSINGTONY]

Odd that they think they would need to separate the trucks from the cars by a name change.I'm not aware of Chevrolet or Ford having to do the same with their trucks and cars.

[AUSSIE]

Based on the sales figures it ought to be pretty clear at least to anybody outside of Detroit that Chrysler's days are numbered, so Ram's best / only chance of survival anyway would be to get picked up by another taker, if it can.

http://newsbusters.org/blogs/tom-blu...t-another-year

I am glad your wrong in this case, Chrysler is going gang-busters with just a small range of vehicles, for now.

FIAT got Chrysler for a simple promise to improve fuel economy, did not pay a cent, i think it was the deal of the century, Sergio is a genius.

As for Benz they burnt 30 BILLION on "marriage of equals", while it makes the Germans look stupid, the only thing stupid was it was shareholders money they pissed up on the wall.

I am all for more choice, long may it last

Cheers

[Gannon]

I'm not sure making the Ram model into a brand is a good idea. Geez, they are stirring with some serious "tradition momentum" here.

I like the fresh views on this stuff...but the trends in the Big 3 shakeup have not been good. The most attractive of GM's lineup were devastated, although with the support they've given both Chevy and Caddy with the branding and product development I can see how they've succeeded in regaining sales.

I still have a vision of the Viper/Ram 'race' I caught once driving north on I-75 near the Chrysler headquarters...if that didn't encapsulate the fervor fueling Dodge's success...but there is no way anyone over the pond in Italy can understand the rush of seeing a ridiculous ten-cylinder supercar running with an identically-painted and racing-striped ridiculous ten-cylinder pickemup truck hauling ass. It would be as if Ferrari or Lamborghini started making trucks...

[Gannon]

There is an entire study here in cultural clashes...the Mercedes angle and now this Fiat one. Each brought their cultural bias to the Chrysler table. [[Some amusing episodes, all costly...but without these rescuers, there'd be no corporation today. We'd be talking about them like we do AMC, past tense.)

Saw a similar thing when German engineers went to Mexico to build their cars cheaply...with VW. But that was more easy to spot...when everyone ELSE became better at quality control than them. And I don't mean other car companies, I mean the dealership janitor and the homeless dude who inspected the dumpster.