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AN: One Ram van down, two to go

10K views 34 replies 21 participants last post by  fenderbass 
#1 ·

With the Ram ProMaster shown, one of three major Fiat/Iveco vans has been shown. Another one, the Fiat Doblo, will get minimal changes for North American sale; it is likely to be made in Turkey and sold here as the Ram Ducato City. Then there's the third -- the one that would compete directly with [brand of the month] Sprinter and the large Ford and Nissan vans that have sold in other nations, and are just making their way here now. The Iveco Daily is reportedly being reworked to be a fiercer Sprinter competitor; most likely, Ram and Iveco engineers are working together on the project. It may well be the vehicle in the photo, towards the back, with what seems like a more pronounced, chromed Ram grille.

Ram engineers would likely be quite happy to get some of their own back from Mercedes, whose name is now on..

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#3 ·
I just mentioned this in the Ram Pro master thread the Van on the left is the Pro master/Ducato but the one on the right has a more pronounced forward leaning grille so it must be a different van
 
#4 ·
Funny that the Ducato and Daily seem to be in the family portrait, but no Doblo?
 
#6 ·
We probably won't hear much about the Daily until the ink dries on the Fiat Industrial /CNH merger. Once that is complete, then there will be a lot of strategizing over the logistics of distribution. Who will pay for the Daily's federalization? How will it be sold and at what outlets?
 
G
#7 ·
I understand I guess why they did the Ducato, but the Daily should have been first. It more aligns with what Americans expect and use a van for. An effcient transmission and good gas and diesel choices would make this a fierce competitor.
 
#8 ·
Maybe they figured on going after a niche first, before going where Mercedes and Nissan already have a foothold.

Will fix the article.

Jeepnut, you were the inspiration (which is why you have a credit).
 
#9 ·
patfromigh said:
We probably won't hear much about the Daily until the ink dries on the Fiat Industrial /CNH merger. Once that is complete, then there will be a lot of strategizing over the logistics of distribution. Who will pay for the Daily's federalization? How will it be sold and at what outlets?
How it should be sold and at what outlets, should have already been decided, as that was the pretext for killing Dodge Trucks and calling them "Rams".
If they don't roll everything in under the Ram name, then it's time to give us back Dodge Trucks.
 
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#10 ·
MoparNorm said:
How it should be sold and at what outlets, should have already been decided, as that was the pretext for killing Dodge Trucks and calling them "Rams".
If they don't roll everything in under the Ram name, then it's time to give us back Dodge Trucks.
As pointed out elsewhere, Fiat Industrial is a separate entity from the auto companies and has its own sales outlets. There's Ram Trucks and then there's Ram Commercial on the Chrysler Group side. I doubt the Daily will be sold at all CG sales outlets. I wonder if Fiat Ind will offer a Unimog competitor through CNH dealers.
 
#11 ·
This comes from Reuters, from the article titled, "Tofas working on two car projects, eyes N.America Doblo exports."
Tofas, in which Italy's Fiat and Turkish conglomerate Koc Holding each own 38 percent, is also working on a feasibility study on exporting its light commercial vehicle Doblo to North America at the end of 2014.

"Tofas has completed its study for plant and research and development for Doblo exports to North America. We are planning to export the Doblo at the end of 2014. We can expect 20,000 units once we start," Basaran said.
Source: http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/10/tofas-projects-idUSL5N0B8E4920130210
 
#12 ·
patfromigh said:
As pointed out elsewhere, Fiat Industrial is a separate entity from the auto companies and has its own sales outlets. There's Ram Trucks and then there's Ram Commercial on the Chrysler Group side. I doubt the Daily will be sold at all CG sales outlets. I wonder if Fiat Ind will offer a Unimog competitor through CNH dealers.
IMO, that would be a mistake.
Daily will get more exposure as a Ram, sold at Dodge Dealers, than relegated to obscurity at CNH dealers.
 
#13 ·
MoparNorm said:
IMO, that would be a mistake.
Daily will get more exposure as a Ram, sold at Dodge Dealers, than relegated to obscurity at CNH dealers.
I agree, these need full exposure, and to be placed fully out front and advertised against the new "Transit" at Ram dealerships.
You might miss a few of the commercial accounts, but acquire much more exposure to the general public.
 
#14 ·
Norm, the Promaster won't be sold at every Ram outlet. I imagine the Daily won't either. Yes it would be a mistake to limit the outlets for the sake of public exposure and also service. I was suggesting both selected CNH and Ram outlets selling the Daily and other Iveco products. I don't think it will be an either/or situation.

I have no inside information, all this is guessing on my part. We still won't hear anything about the Daily until after the stock swap is completed.
 
#15 ·
patfromigh said:
Norm, the Promaster won't be sold at every Ram outlet.
Source?
 
#16 ·
I suspect that like the Sprinter before it, only the dealers that have a trained ProMaster technician and special tools and parts packages for them will be allowed to sell and service them. We were the authorized regional Sprinter dealer and our guy had to go to NYC for Sprinter school.
Even the DRB III scan tool needed a special card to read the Sprinter electronic modules. It was unlike any other animal. You don't want untrained or unfamiliar personnel representing a successful new vehicle launch, no matter how good their intentions may be.
 
#17 ·
I don't think the reverse merger has any effects on strategies or cost distribution. It's a fiscal/technical issue that should have no bearing on day to day operations; after all the main holding (CNH Global) is 90% owned by FIAT Industrial, and has been incorporated in holland since way back in 1999, and traded in the NYSE as such since that time. Its NYSE listing condition is the main reason for the reverse merger as it makes it much easier and cheaper to trade the combined unit this way, than if they were to start the whole -lengthy and expensive- listing procedure from scratch with a new corporation.
SM is chairman, whereas the prez and CEO comes from SGS (also one of Agnelli's EXOR holding piece), and was brought over by SM after his time as CEO over there. In other words, a very stable management team, and a very stable corporate structure; no reason why there should be a break in operations or strategic course.
 
#19 ·
Then I suppose the question should be, 600 total, or 600 currently, with a goal of all eventually?
This was a huge factor in the failure of Sprinter based motor homes to capture more market share.
Only a handful of Dodge service bays could service or even fit the Sprinter and Chrysler caught heck for it.
There was great dissatisfaction when owners would buy at amDodge Dealer and then couldn't get service there.
Often, certified service was hundreds of miles away.
Apparently Marchionne killed the CAB before he learned that lesson.
 
#21 ·
BRANDM said:
Are you saying they couldn't get service at the dealership they bought from? I was under the impression that a dealer had to be a commercial dealer to sell the sprinter and 4500, 5500.
In the complaint I read, the servicing dealer did not have a lift or service bay, large enough to repair/service the Sprinter based motorhome.
I'm not sure about the selling dealership, but if you buy a motorhome, or even a commercial van from Dodge, it's a huge inconvenience to be away from your home dealer, on either business or vacation, and find out after the fact, you can't get it worked on at any Dodge Dealer.
That's an issue with slapping Ram badging on the Fiats.
It comes down to two issues, leave them Fiats and lose sales, or step up and sell more as Rams but certify and train all dealerships to service them.
Neither is an easy or inexpensive answer.
I found out the hard way, in 1989, that my selling diesel dealership, didn't have any diesel mechanics. I had to drive 25 additional miles to get it serviced. Not good.
 
#22 ·
i know that the last dealership i worked at was unable to service sprinters as none of the hoists had both the capacity, and over head clearance needed for the high roof versions, let alone RV's. plus the added training. the crossfire left a bad taste in everyone's mouth in terms of "foreign" vehicles. they made no sense, and required so many special tools.
when the 4500/5500 were launched, many shops couldn't service as parts were too big. the shop i am at now can partially service them, however we cannot do alignments or tires due to the shear size of everything.
 
#26 ·
i'm trying to find some more information about the Promaster. does anyone know the start build date? and will there be a 15 passenger version?


i'm trying to put a proposal together to update our fleet. so far, we are leaning towards the ford transit...purely because that has more information about it and will have a 15-passenger version available from the factory.

our fleet moves about 125+ students weekly, and moves 400+ for larger events about twice a quarter. all we use are ex-greyhound MCIs, an international, and Eseries-based minibuses and shuttles. oh, and our entire fleet is 10+ years old (MCIs are 15+)

if there are any fleet managers out there, please pm me...i could use some advice...
 
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