Following an earlier report in which Leftlane confirmed the future of a new unibody pickup under the Ram brand, Chrysler has now added clarification to their plans. According to Chrysler executives, Ram will not pursue a midsize unibody pickup, but will instead focus on a smaller unibody pickup closer in size to the Ford Ranger.
In November of last year, executives from the then-recently formed Ram division held a lengthy press conference in which they discussed the end of Dakota production in 2011, and that it will be replaced by a new unibody pickup. At the time, speculation lead the public to believe that Chrysler would create a production version of the 2006 Dodge Rampage concept truck, which would have been midsize.
Now, according to Automotive News, Chrysler executives have come out and said that they believe chasing nearly full-size pickups with midsize pickups is not the way to go, suggesting that Ford has the formula right with its aging Ranger.
“Everybody started making these trucks bigger and bigger,” said Joe Veltri, Chrysler group vice president of product planning. “And pretty soon a guy goes into the showroom and says, ‘For X dollars more, I can get a Ram full-sized truck.’
During Veltri’s interview at the National Truck Equipment Association’s Work Truck Show, Veltri confirmed that Chrysler has abandoned plans to bring a midsize truck to market on a unibody platform – with Automotive News citing the 31 percent decline in sales for the segment last year, and the Honda Ridgeline leading the pack with a 51 percent decline.
Veltri did not directly confirm specifications or market expectancy, but he did share details on where Chrysler is going, “We’re thinking of something that will separate itself from the full-sized truck more than what happens today, both in capability, price and size,” said Veltri. Adding, “The Ram brand has room to expand into a compact-truck segment.”
References
1. ‘Changing course, Chrysler considers…’ view
