When the “big rig” Ram first appeared with its Cummins turbodiesel and V10 gas engines, quite a few buyers made them into tow trucks, panel trucks, and other heavier-than-usual-duty vehicles, saving quite a bit of cash over buying a standard commercial truck. However, that market never really took off, because commercial vehicle customizers really need a standard frame to attach their equipment to - the kind of frame the GM TopKick and Ford 4500/5500 have. For over a decade, Dodge was reportedly working on such a vehicle (”reportedly” does not mean “actually”).

Now, finally, we will be seeing Dodge commercial trucks designed with an industry standard frame, using the Hemi gas engine and a new-to-Dodge, larger Cummins turbodiesel coupled to an Aisin six-speed automatic or, presumably, a heavy-duty manual transmission. The Aisin automatic eliminates what might be the biggest drawback of the Rams to commercial buyers, which is the perceived or real inefficiency and unreliability of the Ram automatic in medium duty vehicles. (Medium duty in this context means heavier-duty than “heavy duty” Ram, Silverado, and F-350 trucks.)

What we do not know, and are not likely to find out from official sources, is where this truck came from. Was it designed by Dodge or by Freightliner, or, as is most likely, by engineers from both companies? Was the frame adapted from a Dodge or Freightliner design, borrowed from some other DCX company, or built fresh for this purpose? (The latter seems unlikely but one never knows.) In short, how much Ram is in this new Ram?

These trucks are due to be debuted tomorrow, but as usual we have advance information, this time at http://www.allpar.com/model/ram/medium-duty.html … this is a 140,000 vehicle/year market that Dodge currently has no presence in, with 93% of the sales going to GM and Ford. Getting into the commercial truck market will both benefit Dodge directly with added sales, and by implication make Dodge’s pickups seem more, well, Ram-tough. The name on the utility company rig, tow truck, motor home, or cube truck can become the name in your driveway, just like with GMC, Chevrolet, and Ford trucks. It adds a certain amount of credibility and macho flavor.

It seems like a sensible decision; we just have to wonder, why did it take ten years? Like a turbocharged Neon, some ideas just seemed to make more sense in 1993-1996, but are still welcome even if just a tad late.

This is just a quick post to cover some misconceptions out there.

First, Chrysler turned to Mitsubishi for the “hard points” or platform for the Caliber largely because MMC had developed a very modern platform, ten years newer than that of the Neon, which had current safety standards in mind as well as the flexibility demanded by today’s auto execs (that is, it can be a sports car or an SUV, just like the K-cars could, but with more effective adaptation to each role). Also, the idea was to share development costs, with Mitsu slowly being absorbed into the Daimler empire and merged with Chrysler. Mitsu pulled out, but that was apparently the plan, and it wasn’t such a bad idea given the tremendous cost of building new vehicles and the relatively low sales of both Chrysler and Mitsubishi in this segment (only about 120,000 Neons were sold each year and development costs run into the billions).

Second, the Neon was not a low quality car; it was a high quality car with certain foolish cost-cutting measures (head gasket, exhaust donut), supplier problems (air conditioning), and a gaping design flaw (frameless windows) which were not addressed quickly enough. By 1998 the Neon had solved most of its problems, but you don’t recover from a reputation as bad as it got. That’s the main reason the Neon name was dropped.

Third, the Caliber is a completely new design with hardly any Neon carryover in any components.

The Neon was quite profitable in its first few years, and many, many buyers were very happy with it, but with the quality problems, inadequate automatic transmissions, and quirks like manual rear windows, not to mention the absolutely awful reputation that plagued the poor car - much more than it would have had the Neon been made by any other company other than perhaps Hyundai - far worse than the Neon ever deserved, even in its very early months of production - the Neon name had to go.

As for why they made a wagon only, I can only guess it was money, pure and simple. Daimler had sucked Chrysler Corporation dry, and there is no money for re-establishing the Plymouth brand, so desparately needed to allow Chrysler to move up into near-luxury and to allow Dodge to be purely bold and brash, much less two completely different vehicles (one for Jeep and one for Dodge). So the Jeep is still differentiated in suspension, base engine, and sheet metal, but you only get a wagon (sorry, I meant crossover!) form.

So no more slandering the poor humble Neon, OK? It just wanted to say “hi” … and outperform every other car in its price class for about ten years.

[Additional note: you can read a Dodge Caliber review at acarplace.com.]

Chrysler loaned us a new PT Cruiser for a little while, and though we’ll report on it fully at ptcruizer.com, the one thing that struck me is how much the PT has become a Chrysler. The gauges are now Chrylser-style, the center clock is there, and the general interior look has gotten more, well, upscale. The scalloped headlights, which as far as I know are not preferred by anyone to the original teardrop headlights, are also there to bring home the Chrysler-ness of the new PT.

There is no doubt that the PT was meant to be a Plymouth, no matter what Chrysler said. Let’s face it, Plymouth Truck - or PT - is a label used for years on, well, Plymouth trucks, named PT this and PT that. Personal Transportion? Give me a break. Even though this is the same company that gave us the Acclaim, Aries, Neon, and Caliber, there is a limit to our credibility, and we cannot credit them with coming up with a name as ridiculous as Personal Transportation Cruiser.

The original PT was obviously designed as a Plymouth. It had the right price point (low for its segment), a Plymouth interior, and a Plymouth name. What’s more, why would they give Chrysler, which they were trying to “upscale” at the time, a new entry-level SUV? It didn’t make any sense. Dodge would have made more sense than Plymouth, but they were trying to mollify their Chrylser-Plymouth dealers by giving them a hot Chrysler even as they ended the Plymouth brand, which [ahem] sold better than Chrylser and quite probably had a better reputation for quality. Had it been us, the Chrysler brand would have gone, along with the word Daimler in any corporate names not related to Mercedes, until the company was ready to produce real Chryslers, which, aside from the 300C - and only the 300C - it has yet to do.

As for Dodge, well, Dodge suffered from the same basic fate as Mercury, Olds, and Buick: the loss of buyers’ ability to keep huge numbers of brand tiers separated in their mind, as each brand got a full line of vehicles from dressed-up base models to dressed-down luxury models, and of course SUVs which were all pretty much the same except for options and price tags (drive an Escalade and a Suburban, and see what I mean. Even the Lexus SUVs are not well differentiated from Toyotas, excluding their sheer mass of gadgetry).

Dodge used to be a mid-tier brand, and they pretty much stopped being that when the Valiant moved to the Dart wheelbase. Even then, the difference was largely superficial: a few extra inches of wheelbase and a different grille and tail treatment. Dodge merged down into Plymouth and up into Chrysler at the same time Chrysler was moving down with the Cordoba and Plymouth moved up with the Fury. A more long-sighted management would have kept Chrysler upscale, even with the Cordoba, sacrificing a few sales for brand equity, but that was something they really could not do at the time. They were sinking into bankruptcy, and that was their excuse. Iaccoca’s excuse was the same, though after the debts were paid, he should have given some thought to the brand structure.

The current system, on paper, makes sense. Chrysler is at the top, filling the place Dodge used to have, namely, not-quite-luxury-but-almost-there, not being luxury because Mercedes has that role in the corporate hierarchy. That’s OK, because Chrysler has not had a true, successful luxury brand. Ever. Imperial was luxury and could beat the best of the rest when it was made, before 1969 and arguably even through 1973, but it was never a real success, never sustainable, never a threat to the market leaders - Caddy, Lincoln, Mercedes, etc. - even as it beat them in just about every way, the sales were never there. So, we hate to say it, we can live with Mercedes taking the Imperial position in the Chrysler hierarchy, and Chrysler itself being the car that beats Mercedes’ lower vehicles in every meaningful way, for 20% less money.

Dodge makes sense, too, on paper. The place for Dodge no longer exists; Americans think in terms of luxury or non-luxury brands, that is, Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus, Chevy/Caddy, Ford/Lincoln, Mini/BMW, Hyundai/Kia/etc vs Mercedes/Rolls/etc. Unfortunately with Chrysler Group, every brand is non-luxury, though Jeep and Ram have a certain cachet. So Dodge has been recast as big, bold, and American, which is just fine and fitting with the Ram, Hemi Charger, etc. That does however leave a bit empty spot where Plymouth used to be - Plymouth, the Toyota of American cars at one time, known for its dull reliability and low-priced engineering sophistication. Plymouth’s place in the American perception has long been taken over by Toyota, but where does this leave the cars that don’t fit into the corporate scheme? PT Cruiser is hardly aspirational, though it is a terrific car. Minivans are one big question - big and bold minivans? Perhaps, but it’s a niche, and that’s not good for the world’s biggest minivan producer. For Chrysler, having a brand that sold just minivans would pay off, especially if it meant that Chrysler itself would not be selling minis that were a step down from a Dodge mini! (Yes, we’re back to the point where an optioned Dodge can be far above a base Chrysler.) Then there’s the Caliber, which really should only be sold by Dodge in big and bold form, not in base-engine form. The real crime is the 2.7 liter Charger sold to fleets!

Chrysler needs a brand for their ordinary mass-production staples - the minivans, the economy cars, the family cars. We’re told they’ll introduce such a brand - but it absolutely won’t be called Plymouth. That’s really smart on their part (pun might be intended) - after all, why answer the calls of your own buyers and fans, and reinstate a brand that already has loyal customers, and show that you are responsive to your customers, when you can alienate yet more people and start from scratch again?

The Mopar community is actually celebrating over the Dodge Hornet, as far as I can see. And why? Partly because it has an engine that has some Chrysler engineering, rather than being a pure Volkswagen.

So Chrysler has been lower in the mud in the past; there were days when Mitsubishi made every V6 (3.0), every small car, the optional four-cylinder (2.6), and the compact pickup (D50). Indeed, for a long time it seemed as though Chrysler would make the money-losing big cars and trucks, the money-making minivans, and the badges for the Mitsubishi sports cars (Stealth and Arrow GT), compact cars, and such. Those days seemed over for a little while in the 1990s, but now we’re right back where we started, with “world engines,” Nissan CVTs, Mercedes suspension designs and electronics, and, apparently, Volkswagens filling in the bottom.

Yes, I like the look of the Hornet, not to mention its performance, but with the New York Times suggesting that the 1.6 engine plant in Brazil will be sold to a Chinese company, which will no doubt study it carefully and learn from its systems to flood the US (eventually) with good, cheap, advanced engine designs, we’re probably looking at a Volkswagen engine in the Hornet to match the basic platform. I can hope that Chrysler will essentially use the Polo’s hard points and redesign everything else, but I don’t think that’s in the cards. I think it more likely Chrysler will sell Polos in the US as Volkswagen sells Caravans in Europe, and Chrysler-Volkswagen will pick up where Chrysler-Mitsubishi left off, except that there’s also a Mercedes in the mix now. (Not that it would have mattered in the 1970s or the 1980s, anyway, since Chrysler was busy being pushed so far into Plymouth’s turf that Plymouth ended up with nowhere to go, and Chrysler ended up selling entry-level, stripped-down minivans…a prospect that most Americans now don’t find puzzling or disturbing, I suspect, but when I grew up, Chrysler was still challenging Cadillac, Lincoln, and anyone who cared to import a luxury car; the Imperial went after the best Europe could offer, but with better reliabilty.)

I don’t have a real upbeat ending to this. The Hornet is a great little concept, and I hope the Caliber does so well that Stuttgart decides to let Chrysler both engineer and build the Hornet in its own labs and plants. However, the part of me that realizes how much Mercedes is in the LX tells me that it’s more likely we’ll be getting Polos with Chrysler sheet metal, made in a Volkswagen factory…just like the Eclipse-based Dodge Avenger, Dodge Stealth, Plymouth Laser, Eagle Talon, Chrysler Sebring Coupe, Dodge Stratus Coupe, Plymouth Arrow, Dodge/Plymouth Colt, Dodge D50, Chrysler Crossfire, and quite probably a few I’m missing.

This is how I see it; which will be my armchair CEO thought of the day.
(A stolen quote from Stratuscaster)

Every auto manufacturer should have a brand that produces the bread and butter / vanilla vehicles as well as produces vehicles that allow first time car buyers to be introduced into the company. With the death of Plymouth, a lot of these types of vehicles are making their way into the likes of Dodge and Chrysler which has the overall affect (in my opinion) of watering down these divisions.

Chrysler and especially Dodge, cannot be all things to all people. Each brand needs to carry or convey some sort of image. More times then not, it is this image that sells a product. Why else would some people buy a Viper over a Corvette? It is the image of higher class, aggression, luxury, and wealth to name a few, that helps buyers of products to decided.

This is one cause for the declining sales of Mercury, Lincoln, Saab, Pontiac, and Jaguar to name a few. There is no defining portrait or image that these automakers convey with their vehicles or in their advertising. Can someone tell me what Saab is? Are you buying a luxury car, sports car, are they masculine, will women adore my car, how did my math test go last week….wait I think I am getting off track here.

Chrysler needs to move upscale and compete against the likes of Buick or Mercury. It would be nice for them to compete again the likes of Lexus, Cadillac, Lincoln, but I don’t think that Chrysler has enough history of perfection or street credibility to do so at this time. However, I do think that Chrysler is getting close. The 300 is a great start, the Imperial would be wonderful, but if you remember when the Pacifica was first introduced…Chrysler thought they had IT…the consumer told them otherwise.

Dodge needs to sell sportiness, machismo, affordable muscle. There is no need for sub-compacts, intro-vehicles, or vanilla minivans. If they are going to make a minivan…give it some attitude, then may be more males will want to buy one.

Plymouth will fit the bill for the cars that the other two main brands will leave behind. The vanilla minivan, the affordable quirky functional PT cruiser, the Hornet with Plymouth clothes, Scion fighters to help introduce the youngsters to the fact that DCX is “cool.”

Well, that is my armchair CEO thought of the day.

The kind people at Cars at Carlisle tell me that they have received only six registrations that listed Allpar as their club.

Please take the time to sign up to show off your car at Carlisle. It’s quick, it’s easy, it’s cheap, you’ll get some Allpar goodies, and it would really help us to gain visibility - and you’ll probably get a lot of under-the-tent time meeting other Allpar people, or at least staying out of the heat.

It’ll be fun. It’ll be good. And don’t worry about not having “the right kind of car.” We’re taking a 2000 Chrysler 300M, for Heaven’s sake. (And a 1974 Valiant, but that’s besides the point.) There were entire fields of Sundances and Shadows, Reliants and LeBarons, Neons and PTs, along with the standard muscle fare, the truly vintage vehicles, and the rest. Rams and minivans are welcome as well. If you have it, show it!

The best part of the deal - it’s actually cheaper than buying tickets for the whole weekend. And you get a goodie bag!

So please click here for more details. I hope I’ll see you there.