maybe you should have thought about that before you built to many of them, it is called market forecasting dumb asses.

Four months equals about 122 days, so what’s the problem?

They also have a hard time making quality vehicles

I think RAM has the most personality since 1990’s. Everybody giving their trucks away. Even at 9K factory incentive Chrysler will make money. Unfortunately, all manufacturers will start loosing money on trucks later in the year.

What this really shows you is how overpriced trucks have become. Theoretically a BOF vehicle is cheaper to build…

Back in the day trucks were cheaper than full-size sedans.

441Zuke… I sure hope you are placing that sentiment at the feet of every automaker, because it’s pretty clear that all of them from Chrysler to the General to Ford to Toyota to Nissan – didn’t see this coming.

Anyway… it almost seems like this is getting spun to put Chrysler in an even worse-off place than they already are. People aren’t running away from Chrysler’s truck offerings… they’re merely holding on to their money for the new one to come out… this happens to every model from every manufacturer. Sales of the Malibu dropped drastically in the months prior to the new one being released, the same went for the new CTS, or the new Accord, or the GMT900s, or, well.. just about anything.

It’s a double-edged sword… all of these manufacturers like to put out details for their new models months ahead of time in order to turn up the hype, but by doing so they have to deal with the fact that nobody is going to buy the model currently on the market.

If nothing else… this marks presents a fantastic opportunity and value for those who actually buy trucks for their intended purpose (ie – those who do actual work with them and don’t give two ****s about things like “crappy interiors”). $8-13K is a hard deal to turn up if you really have a need for a full-size pickup..

In the South, Dodge Ram Pick-ups seem to be the most common vehicle on the road, here in NYC you hardly see any.

8-13K will buy a lot of fuel for that truck as well, AMGoff. It also costs money to just keep that truck on the lot. I wish I was in the market; with a little negotiating you could wind up with a screaming deal.

They seem to be everywhere because they have not changed the look of their truck since 1994. So the NEW 2009 truck will also look the same. Ford finally changed the look of theirs in 2008, and so did GM. Even at $10k off sticker, everyone is still concerned with at $4.00 a gallon for gas…$4.70 for diesel, “do I really need this truck?”. Instead of “I really want this truck”. Its interesting to see a Peterbuilt semi-truck with a 13 speed get 10 MPG loaded up, and an EMPTY 08 Superduty diesel get the same mileage. Some Duramax’s and Cummins are also not getting much better than 12 MPG. The new emissions rules are killing the mileage on these trucks. We need 8 to 10 speed trannies in these pickups to justify the high price of gas/diesel.

Chrysler (GM, Ford) could solve their problem very easy. Say with $4/gallon you get 3000 gallons form the $12K discount. At 12 miles per gallon it is 36000K miles – 3 years of driving @12K miles/year. Issue 3 year gasoline card with each truck and see them go. Who wouldn’t want to drive 36K miles for free? Even if you buy Prius you’ll pay something for gas. There are a lot of details to be filled here, but this a basic idea.

jdasch1 – that’s ridiculous… they have changed the look of the Ram several times since the radical redesign of ‘94, but they’ve been evolutionary not revolutionary. The same could be said of several manufacturers… the new F150 is only at the end of the line of evolutionary changed since the ‘97 redesign…. the same goes for the Silverado/Sierra. The Range Rover or even the Toyo Land Cruiser – both a long line of evolutionary redesigns… The BMW 3-series – all evolutionary redesigns since the 70s. Hell… you want the most blatant example? The Porsche 911… if you stand far away or squint and the brand new one looks like the same damn car that was made in the 60s. So it’s completely unfair to say that they haven’t changed the look over the past 15 years.

johnnycanuck – that’s a very good point that I forgot to mention. It does cost money for the dealers to have them sitting on the lot, especially with state taxes/fees/surcharges. I don’t if it’s the same everywhere else, but at least in this area, dealers have to pay some amount to the state on the inventory they have sitting on their lots.

Either way… this marks a huge value for those who need a truck for their intended purpose – actual work. The only people who will put off buying one until the new model arrives are those more concerned with what the interior looks like.

jdasch1, I have several friends with Cummins who swear by 30 mpg on highway (with manual and all have 4WD). Even if they exaggerating 10-20% it is still very respectable for such large truck. The newest crop of aerodynamic semi’s is designed to deliver 8 mpg vs. 4-5 of today. Check you numbers, Car & Driver is good source.

What happened to the old supply and demand? Were they like, “we can **** out 100 of these a day, so we might as well.” Maybe the truck market died off that quick and I just didn’t realize.

Why don’t they just delay production of the 2009 until they clear more of them off the lots? Idle the factories for a month or two or maybe four.

09 rams look so much better

The 09 RAM looks a lot like the concept RAM from back in oh 2000. Dodge has just been slowly building towards it instead of releasing it as something totally new. Most trucks on the road are the same way. Swap a little sheet metal.. change the interior… and whamo… “all new” truck with 75% of the parts of the older model.

Kinda like the Chevy/GMC/Caddy front ends on the trucks and SUVs being interchangable with very little work. It’s the same vehicle underneath… and has been for years.

the 2009 RAM is not the same underneath RaineMan, i can guarantee you that. It is a huge departure from the current ram, particularly underneath.

If they stopped building the 2008s today, they could probably make it through the Summer.
DrFill

Wait for the new model, with their temperature controlled seats and other unnecessary items.

WTF? It’s a truck, not a damn luxury vehicle. $40k for a truck? Unbelievable. There are so many people who get a Texas Ranch Super Duty Diesel just to go from point a to b.

But hey, this is America, the land of waste.

Dodge Trucks are a problem for many reasons: 1) gas prices, 2) Dodge reliablity, 3) weak transmissions, 4) reliability and 5) reliability. I don’t care how cheap they are – I can’t afford the gas mileage and don’t have the patience for my transmission blowing at 61,000k when the warrenty runs out.

I like the exterior appearance of the 09 better, but I’m not to sure about coil rear springs on a pick-up truck. Theres a reason trucks have maintained rear leaf springs 50+ years after cars went to coil. I don’t know the reason, I’m not an engineer, but I do know that everything from half ton trucks up to International 4300s I used to drive for work all have rear leaf springs.