DETROIT — Chrysler Group, beset by red ink and low morale, today takes the wraps off a completely redesigned Dodge Ram pickup truck that it hopes will be a key to its recovery.
Only a couple of years ago, the U.S. unit of DaimlerChrysler was the most profitable per-vehicle auto maker in the country, if not the world. But now Chrysler is sorely in need of hit products to boost earnings and market share, not to mention its image and morale after numerous management shake-ups and massive job cuts since its acquisition by Daimler-Benz in 1998.
Chrysler executives think they've got a hit in the new Ram pickup being unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show.
"It's obviously very important to Chrysler," said Frank Klegon, Chrysler's vice president for truck platform engineering. "We're currently dedicating four assembly plants to it, so it's a significant vehicle for Chrysler."
It's high time that Chrysler redesigned the Ram, said David Healy, auto industry analyst for Burnham Securities. "It hasn't been restyled in so long that it's a drag on their performance. It used to be a leading-edge pickup, but it's probably worst-in-class now."
The full-size pickup truck is a crucial sector of the U.S. auto industry. Producing fat profits, it has long been a monopoly of the American Big Three auto makers. Ford Motor Co.'s F-series pickup has been the country's best-selling vehicle--car or truck--for years, and Chevy's Silverado pickup is No. 2.
But Ram sales last year were down 11.2% from 1999 as the truck became long in the tooth in the wake of new models from Ford and General Motors Corp.
"For us to capture market share, we need a new product," Klegon said. "As the competitive and regulatory environments change, it makes sense for us to invest." Chrysler has put $2.4 billion into the new Ram program, he said.
Chrysler also introduced last month the Jeep Liberty, an upscale replacement for the Jeep Cherokee that company executives and Wall Street investors hope will, along with the Ram, help pull the Chrysler Group out of its deep losses.
The current Ram was introduced in 1993, replacing the bland, boxy Ram D Model pickup that was 22 years old.
"We needed a whole new truck, and a whole new idea about what a full-size pickup should be, in order to grow beyond 6% of the market," Mark Heber of Dodge truck marketing says of the current design. "We added things that truck buyers never knew they needed, like a cool exterior design that would polarize the market."
