While reading Road & Track on the plane today I read that Nissan was going to build a Versa rebadged as a Chrysler or Dodge. Also they will stop making the Titan and sell rebadged Ram pickups.
Looks like it....It seems as if they will be "trading"....Dodge gives them the ram...they give dodge a small fuel efficient car to sell. -------------------------------- With the high cost of developing vehicles, partnerships are probably a necessary evil, or at least a reality, if Chrysler is to survive and prosper. Back in November, 2007 I wrote a blog about Chrysler partnering with Nissan. Following that, Nissan and Chrysler announced they will sell a Chrysler-badged version of the Nissan Versa in South America. Chrysler is also working on a version of its minivan that it will soon begin making for VW, and another small-car project with Chinese manufacturer Chery. No big deal for Ram enthusiasts, but now there’s more. Several sources report that a second Nissan product partnership is underway. This one involves full-size Ram pickups. Interested now? Nissan has been disappointed with sales of its Titan pickup, which came out in late 2003. The Titan is now due for a major update, which is very costly. So instead, Nissan is considering simply buying a rebadged version of the new Dodge Ram, which made its debut at the Detroit Auto Show. A few years ago this would have been unthinkable. Major decisions like whether Nissan would assemble the trucks at its Canton, Mississippi factory, or let Dodge build them on its own pickup-truck line are still undecided. Dodge Rams are available in a wide range of cab, chassis, and engine configurations. Other considerations, such as how different the Nissan and Dodge versions will be, and whether Nissan will have the same wide variety of options, including our beloved Cummins diesel option, are said to still be in the works. The Japanese seem to have had a much harder time figuring out the full-sized American pickup truck market than any other segment of the auto industry. I think there are a number of reasons for this. One major factor is that pickups offered by the American Big Three have huge option lists and come in a slew of varieties which allow buyers to tailor the truck more closely to their needs. None of the Japanese manufacturers have offered a dually, a heavy duty diesel, or a true ¾ or 1-ton pickup with the payload and tow ratings of the American brands. It also seems like full-size pickup truck buyers tend to be more pro buy American than other groups of new-vehicle buyers. This move by Nissan seems to be a tacit admission of their inability to capture this last big chunk of the pie. What do you think of Dodge selling rebadged Rams as Nissans, or of Nissan selling Titans which are really Rams?
Hmm, be interesting to see what engines and options Nissan will sell. The new Dakota is rebadged as Mitsubishi Raider. But the Raider only has one 4x4 trim level, the rest of them are 4x2. And it only uses the 3.7L SOHC V6 Engine. So it is more of a Dakota-Lite.
I read once that in the mid-70s with the gas crunch, the Challenger got shipped over to Japan to be re-badged as the Mitsubishi Galant. I'll never look at a Galant the same way again...
I drove a new Dodge Ram 4x4 for the past two weeks. It had 51 miles on it when I rented it. I think it is a piece of shit. Sloppy ride, sloppy suspension (on and off road) and not well put together. During this time I borrowed a buddies new rented Ford F-150 4x4. Great truck! Solid, and great on and off road! Sorry! Maybe the Japs can turn the Ram into something worthy!
Funny, my first two Dodges were trucks, ones I was sorry to see go...maybe they've gotten sloppy lately. Every Ford I've experienced has sucked ass...
I have had both ford and dodge trucks, both have the good and bad points... i would be interested to see what the super new and awesome suspension on the 09 ram is going to be like..
in todays global economy, it makes more sense from a business stand point to do things like this. for us brand loyal peeps, or the purist, it is blaspemy, but that is just the way things go!!! soon, cars will all look alike and be made by just a few nameplates!!! lol
Yes, but it could have been worse(IMO), Nissan could have been making the Ram! :sick: This relabeling other brands isn't new. & it seems a bit weird that competitors get involved like this. The weirdest is the Ponticrak Vibe, which a yota matrix. Maybe Cerburrous has bigger plans in the future?
Right names, but wrong direction. The 1976-1980 two door version, known as a Mitsubishi Galant Lambda, a third generation Galant, was sent to the US, rebadged, and sold from 1978-1983 as a second generation Dodge Challenger and Plymouth Sapporo. Let's just all pretend that version of the Challenger name never existed, shall we? :erm:
Whoa, I stand corrected...it just weirds me out that the two were linked... all these years I thought that Galant was such a hoity toity name for such a blase car. :thongue2:
