6.7L Cummins Forum

Squid · #1 (**permalink**) 10-11-2009, 01:41 AM

Well it's official. Ram will now be it's own brand.
This got me thinking that since Chrysler and Dodge have the same vehicles like Chevrolet and Pontiac did do you all think this may have been done as a prelude to Dodge being killed even though this article from Automotive News says otherwise?

Quote:

DETROIT – Chrysler Group CEO Sergio Marchionne replaced two of the division chiefs he appointed in June and created a Ram truck brand in the second overhaul of the U.S. automaker now under control of Italy's Fiat S.p.A.
Dodge leader Michael Accavitti and Chrysler brand chief Peter Fong have left the company, Chrysler Group said in a statement today. Newly named Chrysler brand CEO Olivier Francois adds to a growing list of Fiat executives taking positions in the United States.
Among the other changes:
• Ralph Gilles, Chrysler's chief of design, becomes president and CEO of the Dodge car brand. Accavitti, who had steered the Dodge brand, has “resigned to pursue other interests,” the company said. Gilles, 39, will remain in charge of design.
• Fred Diaz is president and CEO of the Dodge Ram brand. He had previously led Chrysler's Denver business center.
• Francois, president and CEO of the Chrysler brand, replaces Fong, who “resigned for personal reasons.” Francois retains his title as head of the Italian parent's Lancia brand.
Protecting Dodge
“This reorganization will allow us to protect and develop the unique nature of the product offerings within the Dodge brand,” Marchionne, who also leads Fiat, said in the statement.
After Fiat took control of Chrysler as it emerged from bankruptcy June 10, the CEO restructured the U.S. company along brand lines.
Each boss was given profit and loss responsibility for the brand, which operates as a business. In addition, each of those executives has dual responsibilities, following a structure Marchionne put in place when he took over Fiat in 2004.
Accavitti, for example, was in charge of corporate marketing. Francois now will oversee that activity. Diaz today picked up responsibility for sale as the company battles a 40 percent U.S. decline this year through September, the industry's steepest.
Michael Manley, who remains head of Jeep, also has been put in charge of Chrysler's international activities outside North America. Joseph Veltri was tapped to take over as head of product planning, a function Manley had held since June.
By creating a Ram truck brand, Chrysler hopes to enlarge the commercial side of its truck business by bringing to North America vans engineered and built by Fiat.
In early September, Mercedes-Benz announced it would take the Dodge Sprinter van business from Chrysler and appoint 120 dealers to sell them.
To replace the Sprinter, Fiat would like to bring the Fiat Ducato and Iveco Daily commercial vans to North America and put Dodge Ram badges on them. Iveco is the commercial truck subsidiary of Fiat Group.
Who's who
Gilles has been a Chrysler designer since 1992 and is known for leading the design of the 2005 Chrysler 300 sedan and the redesigned 2009 Dodge Ram pickup.
Diaz, who joined Chrysler in 1989, directed Dodge brand communications from 2004 to 2006. Before that he held positions in the United States and the Caribbean in Chrysler's sales, service, marketing and customer relations.
Diaz most recently directed Chrysler's business center in Denver, heading the area's sales, service and field operations. He has an MBA from Central Michigan University.
Francois, a Parisian, has headed Lancia since September 2005 and Fiat Group's brand marketing communication since January. Before joining Fiat earlier in 2005, he was general manager in Italy for France's Citroen. He also had headed Citroen's operations in Denmark.
Since July, new product planning chief Veltri had held the title of product planning lead and head of truck/SUV product planning. He was responsible for ensuring continuity in planning across all brands in addition to supervising truck and SUV product planning. His new position involves responsibility for all Chrysler Group product planning.
Veltri, a native Detroiter, had been the automaker's director of body-on-frame product marketing since 2006. He headed Dodge truck marketing and product planning before that.
Veltri, a certified public accountant, joined Chrysler in 1988 as a financial analyst. Before joining the automaker, he was an auditor with KPMG.
He earned a bachelor's degree from Michigan State University in 1980 and has a master's degree from Eastern Michigan University.
The departing Accavitti had worked for Chrysler for more than two decades, including positions in manufacturing, product development and marketing. Before heading Dodge, he was Chrysler LLC's director of brand marketing.
Fong had joined Chrysler last year after more than 20 years at Ford Motor Co. and nine years as a U.S. Navy pilot.

On a side note I saw where Volvo is for sale.

jamespi · #2 (**permalink**) 10-13-2009, 11:07 AM

So they take a Fiat van and call it a Ram. I guess that’s fine since they have to replace the Sprinter, but they didn’t call a Sprinter a Ram. It sounds like they want more of a commercial, utilitarian line for Ram. I think this is a mistake for the U.S. market. It seems they are not worried about the Ram/Cummins combo toughness reputation. I was stationed in Germany for 2 years and traveled to 13 different countries while there. If they are planning on bringing that type of van and truck here to the U.S. I feel the Ram brand will be lost. We may have the last of a great line of trucks.

Squid · #3 (**permalink**) 10-13-2009, 06:24 PM

I think they feel the time of the Pickup has come and gone.

Automotive News
September 7, 2009 - 12:01 am ET
The Sprinter, a roomy but pricey diesel-powered van from Damlier was yanked from the Dodge lineup last week and moved to Mercedes.
Fiat said it wants to plug the hole at Chrysler Group with two commercial vehicles from Europe.
Mercedes Benz USA will appoint up to 120 dealers to sell Sprinters starting in January. Nearly 400 Dodge dealers will lose the van.
About 45 Freightliner dealers will continue to sell the Sprinter as a Freightliner, said Ernst Lieb, CEO of mercedes Benz USA.
Chrysler confirmed it is considering two Fiat vehicles to replace the Dodge Sprinter: the Fiat Ducato and Iveco Daily, said Gualberto Ranieri, senior vice president of communications at Chrysler. Iveco is Fiat's truck and commercial-vehicle subsidiary.
Automotive News had reported earlier that Chrysler was eyeing the two vehicles for a separate Dodge truck brand.

Sprinter slump
Falling demand from stressed contractors has hurt Dodge Sprinter sales.
2009*: 4,605
2008: 14,600
2007: 16,586
2006: 21,961
2005: 19,578
2004: 10,232
*Through August
Source: Automotive News Data Center

Ranieri said any commercial vehicles would "certainly not have the Fiat badge. The sole Fiat vehicle in North America will be the Fiat 500. Period."
In January, the Sprinter will be launched with a 3.0-liter V-6 diesel that is used in the Mercedes Benz M-class crossover and GL-class SUV.
When Dodge began selling the Sprinter in the United States in April 2003, U.S. buyers didn't know the vehicle, said Lieb. "It has now established itself," he said.
The vans will be sold by the newly created Daimler Vans USA. Claus Tritt, the unit's general manager, previously worked at the van division at DaimlerChrysler.
The Sprinter is assembled at a semiknockdown factory in Ladson, S.C., which has a capacity of 32,000 units a year, Tritt said.
Dodge sold 14,600 Sprinters in 2008 and 4,605 in the first eight months of 2009.
Lieb said Mercedes Benz will approach dealers about taking the Sprinter franchise "based on their potential." A dealer might have to invest $30,000 to $50,000 in the Sprinter franchise and put up a sign, dedicate service and salespeople and purchase some special tools and equipment, Lieb said.
Dodge dealers have struggled to sell the Sprinters as the credit crisis dried up loans for potential small-business customers.
The 2009 Dodge Sprinter starts at $43,130 including shipping.

jamespi · #4 (**permalink**) 10-13-2009, 07:38 PM

You may be right.

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