Just days after news that Pontiac has canned its G8 ST pickup, essentially a rebadged version of the Holden ‘Ute, rumors have surfaced that Dodge is considering a fuel-efficient, car-based vehicle with an exposed bed. The new pickup could take over for the Dakota, a midsize pickup that has inched up to full-size dimensions and full-size fuel efficiency.
“What is needed is a lighter-duty, multipurpose vehicle from a lighter, more fuel-efficient car platform that allows the vehicle to be priced significantly different from what your full-size trucks are,” Chrysler product development chief Frank Klegon said in an interview, according to the Detroit News.
Klegon told the paper that a Dakota successor “might look very different than today.”
The small pickup market is in jeopardy. Many analysts predicted that high gas prices would see consumers turn towards smaller haulers, but sales didn’t improve even as gas topped four dollars a gallon in the United States. Just yesterday, Mitsubishi announced plans to can its Raider pickup, a rebadged Dakota, and the future of Mazda ’s B-Series is also cloudy. Mazda sold just 53 B-Series pickups in the United States last month.
