All-New Dodge Dakota / Mid-Size Ram Pickup Truck Spied Testing - Photo Gallery
BY MIRCEA PANAIT
25TH MARCH 2015
Former Ram Truck numero uno Fred Diaz declared at the 2013 New York Auto Show: “we are heavily, heavily, heavily exploring the possibility of bringing a mid-sized truck to the market.” But Diaz is no longer the big shot and the plans for developing this type of workhorse have been declared unfeasible.
According to an older Fiat-Chrysler five-year-plan, the company wishes to import a Fiat-branded truck, rebadge it as a Ram and sell it in 2016 as is - a not-exactly-worthy successor for the Dodge Dakota. As if this wasn’t enough of a letdown, more or less official reports claim that FCA will buy the L200 truck from Mitsubishi, re-body and rebrand it as a Fiat, then do it again for the still-unconfirmed Ram Dakota. Yeah...
It’s hard to tell, but glancing at the thing from its side profile, it seems like the front side windows and A-pillars are shared with the new Mitsubishi L200 (also known as the Triton).
If a Mitsubishi sourced product is sold as a Ram (despite the title suggesting it could be Dodge), is it sacrilegious?
I'm not entirely sure, but there is a precedence for it (the old Dodge Ram 50/D-50 was a Mitsubishi based product). I certainly understand the need to keep costs in line and development expenses in check. FCA has a lot of money sunk into a lot of other projects and arguably don't have the free cash to make a home-grown product. If that's true, then this is a viable solution --- Especially when you consider the fact that this product will also likely be sold under the Fiat Professional badge in South America, South Africa, and other world markets.
However, I do wonder where it will be built (to avoid the "chicken tax"), how it will be styled, and if it will be a credible alternative to the Canyon, Tacoma, and Colorado.
The Triton is a very good starting point; I wish them luck with this.
However, I do wonder where it will be built (to avoid the "chicken tax"), how it will be styled, and if it will be a credible alternative to the Canyon, Tacoma, and Colorado.
Just one look at the rear suspension connection kills the idea that is "truck" based.
Additionally it looks nothing like the L200 unless you have popped a gel in the last few hours.
Look at the fender slope and the engine bay proportions. This is at best a car based truck. Maybe a junior competitor to the VW Runamuck or a direct competitor to that mini truck Ford is mangling together from bits east of the Brazilian rainforest.
My instincts tell me that this is indeed the Mitsubishi L200 with Ram styling. As for production, I'd bet it would be built at Mitsubishi's Normal Illinois plant (which currently builds the Outlander Sport) which is currently way underutilized.
IMO generally something with a frame under it when it comes to "trucks" would be a lot more sturdy and capable of hauling heavy loads as well as towing. The Jeep truck above married the two types.
It's hard to make out what's under all that tank tape but it sure does look a million times better than the current boring dull anodyne septic SSsss L200 appliance truck.
If it more like a Ram then it will be another win win for FCA Fiat.
If not a replacement for the South American Fiat Strada pick-up that's for sure, looks more like an old Mitsubishi pick-up that l used to like, it looks more Mitsubishi Pajero than a pick-up. Mitsubishi now have a crap reputation for using inferior materials, a friend of had a crankshaft shear twice in the same place near the pulley, Mitsubishi customer service don't want to know you when it happens, the guy went through hell and back to get them pay-up admit responsibility liability.
Saying that though a lot of the older Mitsubishi's were very tough, its just this current generation of Mitsubishi's are total crap, l hired a 7-seater Pajaro in the 90's it was rock solid winning Dakar every year l wanted one, l would not touch one now not after my friends recent experiences with recent Mitsubishi's. Lets hope Mitsubishi get back to their roots when they were good and start making some solid trucks again.
That's not a pickup. Look inside the rear wheel wells, and look at the rear door's camo. In the wheel wells, from the rear 1/4 shot, you can see the wheel well structure, that's made to accomodate the rear door of an SUV, not a truck. And the camo has that diagonal tape line on the rear door that looks like it's hiding the rear wheel cutout on SUV rear doors.
the camo is doing its job, plus this is a pick up and its product plan stats that
this could very well be a new dakota to.
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Related Threads
?
?
?
?
?
GM Inside News Forum
3.5M posts
83.7K members
Since 2003
A forum community dedicated to GM owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about General Motors news, concepts, releases, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!