Visionary Chrysler Introduces Dodge Ram Mega Cab - Seats Six Adults

[hatrack]

SALTILLO, Mexico (AP) -- Workers at DaimlerChrysler AG's Saltillo plant got a visit from Chrysler Group's future president and Mexican government officials Thursday as they began building the 2006 Dodge Ram Mega Cab, a behemoth that Chrysler is counting on to boost sales in the growing pickup market. Chrysler's incoming president and chief executive Tom LaSorda, who will take over the top job on Jan. 1, drove a Mega Cab through a false brick wall in front of hundreds of cheering workers at the plant.

LaSorda, who is Chrysler's chief operating officer, said the newly renovated plant is now one of DaimlerChrysler's most flexible. He said the plant can build multiple vehicle styles on the same assembly line, allowing the company to respond quickly to market demand.

EDIT

Chrysler said the Mega Cab has the most interior room in the industry, with seating for six adults and more than 7 cubic feet of cargo space behind the rear seat. The Mega Cab is Dodge's answer to consumers who have been migrating away from the Dodge Ram as competitors introduced more spacious cabs.

EDIT

The Saltillo plant has some catching up to do in terms of efficiency. It placed tenth among full-size pickup plants and behind DaimlerChrysler pickup plants in Missouri and Michigan in the 2004 Harbour Report, which measures North American productivity. Workers at Saltillo took 26.3 hours to assemble a pickup. That compares to 19.8 hours for workers at the top performer, a General Motors Corp. plant in Fort Wayne, Ind. The Mega Cab will be an available option on the Dodge Ram 1500, 2500 and 3500. Chrysler hasn't set a price for the Dodge Ram Mega Cab, but a 2005 Dodge Ram 1500 with a crew cab, automatic transmission and four-wheel-drive started at $34,245.

EDIT/END

http://www.freep.com/news/statewire/sw119713_20050811.htm

Yeah, they'll be standing in line for a gigantic pickup that starts at $34,245, especially with gasoline that starts at $2.50 a gallon. And the more efficient those Saltillo workers become, the more efficiently they will assemble big-ass trucks that won't sell - won't that be just great?

[girl gone mad]

1. Their timing couldn't be better.

:eyes:

[donco6]

2. Oh yeah, sign me up.

Maybe I can tow my extra-big-ass Humvee with it when it breaks down.

Are these people nuts or what?

[Warren Stupidity]

3. remember when a pickup truck was what you bought

because you used it to haul shit around and it was CHEAP?

[damntexdem]

4. Yes, Dodge has seen the future, and ...

dodged it in favor of a super-expensive gas hog.

[billbuckhead]

5. All this Mopar bashing is uncalled for, these guys aren't GM-Ford

These new Dodge trucks will have Hemi motors that that switch from 8 cylinders to 4 cylinder after reaching cruising speed. This new engine is very smooth and gets good gas milege for what it is. Besides, many of these trucks will be Cummins diesels.

For those concerned about gas mileage, Mopar has some nasty surprises for Toyota, Subaru and Honda. They're called Dodge Caliber, Jeep Patriot and Jeep Compass. These new compacts will have continuously variable automatic transmissions with new VTEC 4 cylinders that will lead the industry in gas mileage for allwheel drive vehicles. These new 4 cylinders are have been bench tested Mercedes style for 300,000 mile durabilty and smoothness.

Chrysler is very profitable and leading the industry in most technology.

<http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=102928>

[hatrack]

6. Yes, they'll get 17 MPG instead of 15

I'll bet Toyota and Honda are just shivering with fear at the awesome Chrysler efficiency onslaught. :eyes:

[billbuckhead]

7. Honda's new Ridgeline pickup is a huge bust

Toyota and Nissan have also failed in the fullsize truck market. It's a very tough market and Dodge has more than quadrupled their sales in this market in the last 10 years.


Early sales of Honda's Ridgeline truck disappoint; high prices pegged as main problem
AUTOMOTIVE NEWS
Posted Date: 8/1/05
The Honda Ridgeline has a price problem.

The innovative V-6 pickup costs about $10,000 more than other compact trucks in the United States. And that is hurting sales, says Koichi Kondo, president of American Honda Motor Co.

He says Honda could put incentives on it if sales continue to disappoint, but it won't do so immediately. Honda typically uses cut-rate financing, subsidized leases and dealer cash to boost sales.

"We will take measures if needed," Kondo said at a press event in Tokyo two weeks ago.
--------------------snip----------------------
<http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=102883>

Titan misses monthly sales target

# Shortfall attributed to hefty incentives offered by competitors, Hurricane Charley

By Josee Valcourt
[e-mail]

August sales for the Canton-made Titan pickup fell short of hitting their monthly target to grab at least a 5 percent market share annually in its segment.

In July, there were 8,726 units sold — a record mark that Nissan Motor Co. wants to maintain to reach its yearly 100,000 target. Wednesday the automaker reported 7,463 Titans were purchased in August.
----------------------snip------------------------------
<http://www.clarionledger.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20040902/BIZ01/409020362/1027/BIZ01>

[hatrack]

8. I'm talking about efficiency and you're talking about truck sales

I don't think many people are going to be buying Ridgelines or Titans with gas prices like this. Also, the last 10 years say absolutely nothing about what the next ten years are going to be like. If I had to hazard a guess, I would venture "very, very different" in terms of what kinds of cars people are going to buy, design and build.

Total global oil demand is at about 84 million barrels/day, and total global spare production capacity is about 1.5 million barrels/day. What little extra production the Saudis have been able to jimmy up (and by the way, Saudi production and reserve data is almost completely opaque) has been mostly heavy crude, or sour crude, or both. China's just really getting going in terms of oil demand, and India's waiting in the wings. Both IEA and EIA are projecting annual demand growth of between 2 and 3%, so you do the math.

Meanwhile, non-OPEC production is falling to 675,000 barrels/day (down from 1.1 million barrels/day in 2004), and according to the June issue of Offshore Engineer (the trade journal of the offshore oil industry), total offshore discoveries for the first half of 2005 amounted to 936 million barrels worldwide - in other words, less than 1/30th of Prudhoe Bay's OOIP (original oil in place).

For what it's worth, Ford is also rolling out a new F-250 trimline (the Amarillo?) which is another three-ton $55,000 monstrosity. I don't think they're going to be selling many of those, either.

On edit: spelling fix.

[billbuckhead]

10. The market isn't ready for fuel efficient cars just yet

Here's what will be profitable next year and will be an "American" car that will sell around the world.

[Coastie for Truth]

12. The US manufacturers aren't ready for fuel efficient cars just yet

The market place is fickle, and to say that "The market isn't ready for fuel efficient cars just yet" is to be guilty of the "Sin of Rick Wagonerism - Bob Lutzism" with a very severe "NIH Syndrome" (Not invented here).

The issue is not that "The market isn't ready for fuel efficient cars just yet" - the issue really is that "The North American Automobile Manufacturers Association isn't ready for fuel efficient cars just yet"

After the 1980 gasoline price "aberration" - AMC died and Chrysler needed a Federal Loan Guarantee Bail Out and ultimately had to be purchased by Daimler Benz -- and Flint and Pontiac became ghost towns. Of course - "imports" increased in market share -- and steel and vendors never really recovered.

What saved the American manufacturers was the "Special Purpose Vehicle" loophole in the Clean Air Act -- that created the SUV market. It also killed the AMC Eagle, the 4WD Tempo-Topaz, and the 4WD Corsica-Baretta (before they even rolled off the production line). So, we are back on the ever higher gasoline consumption treadmill.

But, now with "Peak Oil" - and China and India competing to buy a shrinking supply of (light, sweet) crude oil, and light sweet crude for September delivery at $66.85, and self-serve regular just over $2.60/gallon locally (and over $3.00 in parts of Los Angeles and San Francisco) - the buyer's mood may well change.

Corrected for inflation, $3.00/gallon is very close to the inflation corrected $3.12/gallon that drove Jimmie Carter from office, gave us Reagan, killed AMC, put Chrysler on life support, and gave GM its worst decade in history.

[dcfirefighter]

9. I love people who buy a full size pickup

to haul furniture once every 4 years.

[Boomer]

11. Are you kidding me?

All the guys I know with these high-priced pickup trucks won't let anything bigger than a bread-box (suitably padded) into their truck beds. It might scratch the finish!

These trucks are used for hauling egos, not furniture. The people who use actually need them as work vehicles can't afford the prices.

[Pooka Fey]

13. ROFL "These trucks are used for hauling egos, not furniture"

So True and SO Funny.

[skids]

14. Yes. Best line ever. rotfl! n/t

[blindpig]

15. sarcasm?

:rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

Beats crying.:hi:

[IDemo]

16. Sorry guys, I'm holdin' out fer one of these:

International pickup

I has needs!

[phantom power]

17. What's the total product-pipeline time? 7 years?

You almost have to pity these rubes. When Toyota and Honda broke out with these hybrids, and gas prices started rising, the Big Three had several years of Big Gas-Guzzlin Specials already in the pipe. They're screwed.