Dodge loses its horns

by Mars Riley

Earlier this year, as some of you might know, Fiat bought a 35 percent stake in Chrysler and plans to become the majority shareholder after some pesky government loans are repaid.  One of Fiats big goals with Chrysler is to make the line smaller and more efficient with their European building platform. On the opposite end of Chrysler’s efficiency spectrum is Dodge—which Chrysler has owned since 1928. For the last 28 years Chrysler’s most successful brand of pickup truck has been known as the Dodge Ram. But earlier this month, in an effort to create some differentiation, Dodge ditched its horns and decided to let Ram fend for itself. They’ll still be sold under the same roof, but as far as marketing is concerned, the Dodge/Ram relationship is over.

There are arguments on both sides about which name, Dodge or Ram, is more connected to the pickups. The Dodge name has a lot of equity in the truck world and playing around with that equity is risky business. From a literal perspective, the Ram name might be better suited to trucks: smaller cars are better at dodging and bigger trucks are better at ramming. While both Dodge cars and Ram trucks will be sold at the same dealerships, a lot of pickup truck fans are still upset about the split.

In some ways I get their grief. It is odd to say “Ram” by itself. Your mouth senses something is missing. It wants to say “DODGE RAM!” in a deep voice … with a growl, maybe even a twang. Makes you feel macho just saying it. Saying “RAM!” by itself in the same way sounds psychotic and might make someone want to call the police.

From a business perspective, creating the split achieves a few things. First, when Dodge starts to roll out more fuel-efficient models, ‘Ram’ won’t mess up their MPG stats. Secondly, there is speculation that they might be separating Ram to pitch the strong-selling truck line to another automaker. Although it may be understandable in the current financial climate to do what needs to be done to survive, they are running the risk of alienating the loyal Dodge Ram customers.

In an interview the new President and CEO of the Ram brand, Fred Diaz Jr., said, “At the end of the day, the Ram will still have some Dodge DNA to it. Anything that’s a real, true truck is part of Ram and the Ram brand going forward.“

When asked about what elevating the Ram brand name will mean to the marketing of the pickups, he said, “That’s another area I need to delve into and figure out. I certainly can’t see us marketing a Ram Ram.” Rumor has it that Ram will position itself as designed to tow ATVs, snowmobiles and boats. Since Ford and Chevy are often promoted as being “work” trucks, Ram might be angling to be the the “sporty” truck. Rams can be sporty, right? Look at the Saint Louis Rams. Sure, 0-5 isn’t too sporty, but the season is far from over. Hopefully rams of all varieties can look forward to better days in the future.