Ram the RAM

[Paul Cook]

The other day I took my 2011, 1500 weight class truck in for routine service. All the cars in the service line were Dodges. Trucks in the sales lot were RAMs.

I’m a little confused about what I was driving. On the doors of my truck there are chrome devices that say, "RAM 1500". The fabric floor mats also say "RAM". At the top of the centered area that has the sound/navigation console it says "DODGE".

My service was completed satisfactorily. Several days later I received an e-mail with a follow-up survey about my visit to this dealership.

The first survey question was “Would you recommend a RAM to someone else.” I marked the strongest negative response. In the space provided I entered the following.

“Like most of my fellow DODGE owners who collect DODGE trucks, I feel that the “whiz kids” in Mercedes and Fiat marketing have shown an extreme disregard for customer loyalty to the highly respected and well established DODGE marque.

I am one the growing group of DODGE POWER WAGON aficionados who collect these iconic vehicles to celebrate their tremendously significant role in the industrial and military history of THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. This includes their participation in the liberation of Italy who had so easily capitulated and followed another of the Axis powers in World War II. And DODGE was there for the defeat of that Axis power. Can you say, “déjà vu”?

I would recommend DODGE but I suggest you ram the RAM.”

Suddenly my comment AND THE WHOLE SURVEY vanished and there was an ERROR message displayed on the screen.

I have a friend whose wife is always saying, "I don’t want to hear it.” I guess she works at the Dodge, Chrysler, Jeep, RAM, customer service survey office.

[W_A_Watson_II]

You and I have the same sentiments. Dodge Trucks, was a brand and they killed a great brand in the ram marketing. I keep waiting for the sale of the truck line but it;s looking more and more like I was wrong in speculating that was why they dropped Dodge from the truck line.

Did you hear that as of either the 2012 or 2013 model rams, they now have their own VIN code, and are no longer VIN'ed as Dodges!

[Ron in Indiana]

Way to go Paul, guess those olive pickers didn't want to hear the truth. It was a sad sad day when they took away our Dodge name plate. Granted the term RAM has been associated with Dodge for decades but it to put out as a brand name is just WRONG. Will I'm glad your prediction didn't come true yet anyway. Now if we could only get a real Charger back on the big oval. Yeah that'll happen.

[John S]

I heard on a business radio show some time ago, that the primary reason for the ram name was to make the truck line eaiser to spin off if the parent company wants to sell it .

[Kevin Mienke]

In every organization, there are people who try hard to do good and other people who try hard to look good. In many of these organizations it is the “look good” colleagues who are now leading the way. I believe this to be the case at Chrysler.

It is the "look good" colleagues in Chrysler management who will publish the results of their bogus survey, boasting of strong satisfaction numbers with the Ram truck.

If we're not careful, and we keep letting the look good people rise to the top, we might end up with a whole nation of look good people...a nation in which nothing gets accomplished.

[Bob Thompson]

In every organization, there are people who try hard to do good and other people who try hard to look good. In many of these organizations it is the “look good” colleagues who are now leading the way. I believe this to be the case at Chrysler.

It is the "look good" colleagues in Chrysler management who will publish the results of their bogus survey, boasting of strong satisfaction numbers with the Ram truck.

If we're not careful, and we keep letting the look good people rise to the top, we might end up with a whole nation of look good people...a nation in which nothing gets accomplished.

Kevin, I believe that ship has sailed. And if not, it could be said to be at the quay taking on coal; and that the black gang are franticly stoking the fires to make enough steam for departure.
Rest assured however , that said ship will "look good" when it crashes full steam ahead into the iceberg.

On a slightly more serious note, it is the european business model being followed here. In that it is much like the one that has seen such marques as Jaguar and Aston Martin passed around like groupies back stage at a rock concert. Making the brand portable will allow it to survive as a stand alone entity if conditions return that prompted the renaming of Dodge trucks. I agree that the truck line should have retained the name, and perhaps the rest of the Dodge line could have been sold as DeSotos or Plymouths. Since the motivation for having separate marques within an auto corporation has essentially gone by the wayside e.g. dividing clientel based on price . There is a substantial amount of financial twaddle involved and I dare say that at some point the size of someone's genitalia got in the way of a rational decision.

[W_A_Watson_II]

If you have seen the new Jeep Cherokee, it looks like that brand is headed down the track of extinction as well with styling like that.

[Bob Thompson]

If you have seen the new Jeep Cherokee, it looks like that brand is headed down the track of extinction as well with styling like that.

Aren't the new Cherokee and the new Durango essentially the same vehicle?
Apparently corporate is unwilling to alienate the large Jeep-centric segment of the buying public just yet. I'm sure they'll get round to it when they're through mucking about with the Dodge/Ram debacle.

In the meantime and perhaps out of sheer bloodymindedness, I plan to relabel my truck as a Packard.

[318cu.in.]

Rebadging

Shortly after I got my 2008 RAM, I ordered a set of Power Wagon lettrine. The dealer removed the RAM 1500 lettrine and installed the Power Wagon one. Ram figure on the tailgate is also gone. I know, I know, a 1500 truck isn't built like the real thing, modern wise, but I also know that when I was young, four wheel drive Dodge trucks were called Power Wagons.

[318cu.in.]

Origin of the Ram

Correct me if I'm wrong, but the Ram concept appeared in 1979, for the 1980 model production. Chrysler was under the govern of Lee Iacocca. The Germans and the Italians had nothing to do with it. Now, I don't know what was the plan behind the introduction of the new nameplate back in 1979. Other bloggers might have some info on this.

[Gordon Maney]

I think auto manufacturers do not fully grasp the power of brand loyalties held by consumers. If they did, they would not make some of the stupid moves they do.