What is this "Ram" brand nonsense?

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Spazdog

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What is Chrysler doing? Why are they creating a new brand to sell their existing trucks?

Is this just "busy work" for marketing?

Do they honestly think that there is a significant portion of the population that thinks, "I would never buy a Dodge but Ram? Maybe I should check out this new Ram brand name."

Is it just to save money on the chrome plated plastic letters on the truck? D-O-D-G-E R-A-M =$4.00 --- R-A-M = $1.50....wooohooo, $2.50 per tailgate. Surely any money they saved on truck lettering would have to be spent changing the signage at dealerships, registering domain names, creating new websites....etc...

Do they really think that GMC has been more successful than Chevrolet?

Can you imagine Ford detaching itself from the F-series? Or Toyota from the Tundra? Hey, we got Toyota, Lexus, and Scion....let's make a new truck brand! ...because you know having a lot of different brands worked so well for GM. I mean just look at how well Saturn, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac are doing!"
 
They just have a seperate marketing group and budget for the trucks, nothing to get all excited about.

They will be more focused on the advertising and have accountability to one manager. So they will have Mopar(parts), Dodge, Jeep, Chrysler, Ram and Fiat once that gets going. Sounds logical to me.

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
What is Chrysler doing? Why are they creating a new brand to sell their existing trucks?

Is this just "busy work" for marketing?

Do they honestly think that there is a significant portion of the population that thinks, "I would never buy a Dodge but Ram? Maybe I should check out this new Ram brand name."

Is it just to save money on the chrome plated plastic letters on the truck? D-O-D-G-E R-A-M =$4.00 --- R-A-M = $1.50....wooohooo, $2.50 per tailgate. Surely any money they saved on truck lettering would have to be spent changing the signage at dealerships, registering domain names, creating new websites....etc...

Do they really think that GMC has been more successful than Chevrolet?

Can you imagine Ford detaching itself from the F-series? Or Toyota from the Tundra? Hey, we got Toyota, Lexus, and Scion....let's make a new truck brand! ...because you know having a lot of different brands worked so well for GM. I mean just look at how well Saturn, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac are doing!"
 
I speculate that this is being done to pave the way for an eventual sell off of the Dodge light truck line, possibly to either the Chinese or the Indians.

I find it hard to believe that Fiat wants to be in the business of selling light trucks. There's really nothing in the Ram line that translates well internationally. Chrysler and Dodge are intended to provide a solid outlet for Fiat vehicles in North America. I fully expect to see news reports of the Ram brand being sold in the next 5 years.
 
Someone thinks Ram sounds more macho than Dodge. Seriously, the truck company ads are getting so ridiculously over the top macho they are like watching parodies.
 
IDK, dodge trucks are a solid contender, every bit as good or better in some respects as the other 2.
the name simplification is just marketing IMO, some focus group had the groupthink idea that they could 'channel' their 'core sensibilities' in a more 'dynamic' way (or so I imagine it happened).
 
that actually makes sense.

But Fiat still has their IVECO line don't they? Wouldn't they be able to market IVECO trucks through Dodge (or RAM) similar to the way Mercedes Benz did with the Sprinter van? (at a quick glance you can't tell a Mercedes Benz Sprinter from an IVECO van anyway.)
 
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
that actually makes sense.

But Fiat still has their IVECO line don't they? Wouldn't they be able to market IVECO trucks through Dodge (or RAM) similar to the way Mercedes Benz did with the Sprinter van? (at a quick glance you can't tell a Mercedes Benz Sprinter from an IVECO van anyway.)


Exactly right. To the best of my knowledge, Iveco only has commercial trucks, not consumer level pickups like Dodge currently has. Changing the existing product line over to Ram lets them sell off these products with the Ram name and retain the Dodge name for other products. It makes for a cleaner break.
 
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Can you imagine Ford detaching itself from the F-series? Or Toyota from the Tundra? Hey, we got Toyota, Lexus, and Scion....let's make a new truck brand! ...because you know having a lot of different brands worked so well for GM. I mean just look at how well Saturn, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac are doing!"

crackmeup2.gif
 
Originally Posted By: Spazdog
....

Do they really think that GMC has been more successful than Chevrolet?

Can you imagine Ford detaching itself from the F-series? Or Toyota from the Tundra? Hey, we got Toyota, Lexus, and Scion....let's make a new truck brand! ...because you know having a lot of different brands worked so well for GM. I mean just look at how well Saturn, Oldsmobile, and Pontiac are doing!"

But isn't that kind of what Toyota did?

They didn't segregate the truck lines (yet
wink.gif
) but they came out with luxury cars and created Lexus because they felt the Toyota image wasn't upmarket enough.

Then the Toyota brand was too stodgy for the "younger demographic, so they came out with Scion (which I believe is stronger with old coots in my age bracket then the kids, go figure).
 
I serously dobut they have any intention of selling the trucks off, the engines and powertrain are all integrated in the rest of Chrysler.

Selling a single brand off isnt easy, ask Saab, Volvo, Saturn etc No one wants a single brand, you need economies of scale.

This is just a exercise in reporting structure and accountability and marketing with in Chrysler LLC.

FIAT is putting more into Chrysler in 12 months than Dumbler Benz or Cerebus put into them in 5 years.
 
Originally Posted By: SteveSRT8
Pure marketing, and Fiat will be VERY careful as the Ram line actually makes money!


Makes money, wins magazine comparisons, has a devoted following...etc...why would alter brand perception when it has so much going for it?

before '94, Dodge trucks accounted for .9% of new truck sales. Point nine. 9/10ths of 1%. Since then they have ranged between 15% and 25% of new truck sales. That's a success story. That's not F-series numbers, but it is a much bigger piece of the pie.
 
Originally Posted By: Ursae_Majoris
Scion and Lexus have different types of vehicles: SUVs, cars, cross-overs. RAM will have just trucks.
True, but in the bigger picture, Scion and Toyota both have small cars. Lexus and Toyota both have larger cars and SUV's. Similar to GM's Chevy/Pontiac/Olds/Buick/Cadillac strategy, IMHO.
 
Originally Posted By: AuthorEditor
Someone thinks Ram sounds more macho than Dodge. Seriously, the truck company ads are getting so ridiculously over the top macho they are like watching parodies.


Bingo. 'Ram,' 'Power Stroke,' etc. all have sexual overtones. It's all about who has the most virile truck!
cool.gif
 
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