Future Sibling: Ram Dakota Pickup First Look!

[Jteakus]

In Louisiana chrome=rust

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[Mr Miami]

No to

In Louisiana chrome=rust

Yes, here in Florida too.

Not to offend anyone here, but I have this subliminal picture of chrome equaling a guy with a hairy chest, a tattoo that has something about his mother on it, a pack of Lucky's rolled up in the sleeve of his t-shirt living in a park where all the homes are on wheels.

Not to cast aspersions or anything.

 

[BourbonRunner]

I'm super excited about the Dakota. It will be better equipped to compete with the Ranger and Canyon/Colorado. The Gladiator is a niche midsize truck. Even though I absolutely love the Gladiator as a utilitarian truck, I would also like to have a luxury midsize truck.

It would be interesting to see a Dakota Tungsten up against a Canyon Denali.

It goes without saying that the lack of a mid-size truck for so long and not having a Cherokee replacement on deck to compete in the hottest segment (CSUV) of the USDM are prima facie evidence that Tavares and the rest of the idiots at Stellantis didn't understand the USDM at all. It's about time that course is corrected.

 

[biodiesel]

It would be interesting to see a Dakota Tungsten up against a Canyon Denali.

Yes, it would. Ram has been the leader when it comes to luxury interior. I would be surprised if they didn't give the Dakota the same treatment.

It goes without saying that the lack of a mid-size truck for so long and not having a Cherokee replacement on deck to compete in the hottest segment (CSUV) of the USDM are prima facie evidence that Tavares and the rest of the idiots at Stellantis didn't understand the USDM at all. It's about time that course is corrected.

At one point, the Ford Maverick outsold ever Jeep model including the Wrangler. So yes, there's a huge market for affordable midsize and compact trucks and SUVs. Stellantis is very late to the party. We went from being an industry leader under Sergio Marchionne to being the industry follower under Carlos Tavares.

 

[Thunderspud]

I'm super excited about the Dakota. It will be better equipped to compete with the Ranger and Canyon/Colorado. The Gladiator is a niche midsize truck. Even though I absolutely love the Gladiator as a utilitarian truck, I would also like to have a luxury midsize truck.

Yeah, these are sort of my thoughts as well. Keep the Gladiator's focus on the things that made it a "Jeep truck" to begin with.....it's ok to be different. This gives the folks at Stellantis a completely new outlet to pour all the boring stuff (that actually sells) into, lmao.

Give me my old man, solid axle, utility-focused, "does everything....good enough" truck, and let the masses have the Dakota with all the plasticy bits and fancy techno wizardry.

 

[BourbonRunner]

At one point, the Ford Maverick outsold ever Jeep model including the Wrangler. So yes, there's a huge market for affordable midsize and compact trucks and SUVs. Stellantis is very late to the party.

Ford got completely caught with their pants down on the Maverick initially- they couldn't come close to demand. To think people would want a small reasonably priced utility vehicle to commute to work and make runs to Home Depot and the dump on the weekend instead of a massive Crew Cab Superduty Dualy with an 8ft bed...

We went from being an industry leader under Sergio Marchionne to being the industry follower under Carlos Tavares.

Sergio's unexpected passing was a disaster for the entire auto industry. It is a small miracle that the legacy of Chrysler at this point isn't a footnote given how poorly Tavares and the rest of the Euros handled it.

 

[Breadman]

The lighting is so manly and "mysterious" it's impossible to tell what the damn thing actually looks like. Certainly doesn't stop the reactionaries from succumbing to their pavlovian response to anything new.

 

[Hootbro]

Ford got completely caught with their pants down on the Maverick initially- they couldn't come close to demand.

Ford also fu#ked over quite a few people who ordered first and second model year Mavericks. You had COVID supply constraints and dealer markups that made like less the 500 people actually got and received a first year XL Maverick for the $19,999 initial launch price. Factory priority was placed on higher end trims and also the higher end Bronco Sport and Escape that shared the same platform and parts supply. Current base MSRP is $28K with a good chance 2026 base MSRP being $30K+ with tariffs not helping any either.

Ford Maverick is not exactly the value proposition it once was.

 

[biodiesel]

Ford got completely caught with their pants down on the Maverick initially- they couldn't come close to demand.

Yes, and check out those sales numbers. They will hit record sales again in 2025!

2021 - 13,258
2022 - 74,370
2023 - 94,058
2024 - 131,142
2025 - 120,904 as of the end of Q3

 

[Janster]

In Louisiana chrome=rust

Anywhere in the northern states…..add a little salt….. and everything rusts!!

 

[ShadowsPapa]

Rust -

 

[BourbonRunner]

Ford also fu#ked over quite a few people who ordered first and second model year Mavericks. You had COVID supply constraints and dealer markups that made like less the 500 people actually got and received a first year XL Maverick for the $19,999 initial launch price. Factory priority was placed on higher end trims and also the higher end Bronco Sport and Escape that shared the same platform and parts supply. Current base MSRP is $28K with a good chance 2026 base MSRP being $30K+ with tariffs not helping any either.

Ford Maverick is not exactly the value proposition it once was.

If Stellantis is intentionally tone deaf, Ford is relatively successful in spite of itself. If it wasn't for F-Series and Police Interceptor Explorer sales who knows where they'd be right now.

They FUBAR'ed the launch of the full size Bronco, too. They had all this hoopla about the nameplate coming back but the launch orders (myself included) were delayed for years and whizzed on their own momentum and managed to piss off buyers because prices jumped dramatically between deposit and delivery.

I bought her a fully loaded Heritage Limited Bronco Sport in 2023 and it still had missing parts due to "supply constraints." Mostly a bunch of plastic trim bits that would have cost around $500 to purchase separately. The bean counters in Dearborn really screwed that up considering the base models earlier in that MY had all of that stuff yet the top trim did not. I didn't realize it until well after I'd taken delivery and hopped on the BS forums. Which, BTW is about as cringe as cringe can get.

Yes, and check out those sales numbers. They will hit record sales again in 2025!

2021 - 13,258
2022 - 74,370
2023 - 94,058
2024 - 131,142
2025 - 120,904 as of the end of Q3

And this is precisely why other manufacturers have launched unibody trucklettes. Or as our friends in Oz would say "Utes."

 

[BourbonRunner]

Rust -

Where'd you get the pics of my First Gen Tacoma from, Bill???

 

[Janster]

Where'd you get the pics of my First Gen Tacoma from, Bill???

Hey…. at least they made an effort to replace the frames!!

 

[BourbonRunner]

Hey…. at least they made an effort to replace the frames!!

Well, most of them. The only reason I still don't have it is because the local Toyota store decided to undercoat it without my permission instead of notifying me that it wasn't a frame replacement candidate. That naturally failed and when I tried to get Toyota to cover it, they told me I already had my one shot, sorry. The entire MileOne chain are nothing but assholes and crooks. Eff them.

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