A Front Wheel Drive Dakota? Chrysler-Fiat Execs Hint At Building Car-Based Truck

Car-based trucks are popular in many other countries, could Ram (a subsidiary of Chrysler-Fiat) be the first to bring one to American shores? If Chrysler-Fiat spokesperson Fred Diaz is to be believed, all options are on the table.

The move would differ a bit from Chrysler’s original plan for the Ram Dakota. After the automaker began focusing more and more attention on the Ram 1500, the Ram’s days became numbered and in 2009 only 10,690 were sold. That same year, Chrysler announced it would end production for the Ram Dakota by 2011.

By the time production stopped, the company was already deep in the process of looking into new options to replace it, including a smaller, compact pickup truck. These early plans would have had the Dakota’s successor designed with the North American market in mind, but Chrysler now seems to be leaning toward making the pickup available worldwide.

As more restrictive fuel economy regulations take place, experts believe there could be a larger slice of the market for smaller, car-based trucks. As customers become increasingly fuel-conscious, sales of pickup trucks have suffered. Total pickup sales dipped more than 30 percent during the recession. Joe Veltri, Chrysler Group’s vice president of product planning, said the current economic conditions harken back to the 1980s, when compact pickup trucks outperformed their full-sized counterparts, selling 1.5 million units each year.

One option that isn’t on the table, however, is to build another mid-size body-on-frame truck exclusively for the North American market.

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