Forum Discussion
- Not sure anything is that big...:B
- That percentage spread between Ram and Chevy is even bigger than the Super Bowl point spread. Who would have guessed that :B
- Single month sales numbers, year vs. year seem pretty unimportant to me. Too many things can affect sales, like weather, inventories, incentives, general economy, etc. RAM inventories may have been low last year compared to this year, restricting 2013 sales. GM inventories of HDs may be low this January since the new 2015s just went into production. Neither may be a factor, just possibilities, Six month or 12 month rolling sales figures might have more significance.
- Chrysler has got to be getting close to plant capacity ,wonder if another plant will be built and where?
- My biggest surprise is the jump with the Frontier, I guess when you sell so few a couple of extra one's can really make that curve soar, same could be said for Ford I guess, when you sell so many trucks, eventually you have to peak at some point and the only way to go is down a little bit. I am sure that GM's numbers are simply due to the split of sales between the GMC and Silverado. Got to say though, I like the diection the Ram is headed. Like eluded to earlier in the thread, I am not so sure Chrysler would exist with out what is IMO a stellar truck line.
- The GM twins were 6K units behind Ford. Ford has another grand or so on the hood than does GM. Considering the HD GM trucks are about to release, I would expect the gap to close. However GM needs to bring a 4500 and 5500 to market.
- Diaz' title of Director of Marketing could be as much due to a non-compete as anything else.
Perrysburg Dodgeboy wrote:
I've heard several different stories--the good, bad, and ugly. It's the typical gossip that emanates when there's intense political posturing in a corporate environment.
As far as Fred Diaz goes, he was in charge of the Ram division and had two poor launches, if you recall. Given that he had been in talks with Nissan when there was talk us us building their pickup's and them build small cars for us. I'm sure he likely had made some friends over there, he's a very likable man. Then given the fact that it was decided that the 1500 would use the VM and not the Cummins engine I'm sure he was not happy.
I find it funny that Nissan made him VP of Marketing not their truck division.
My bet is he was simply burned out and could not keep up with the 24/7 lifestyle that Sergio is used to, most COE's couldn't. Note this is not a slam on Diaz.
Don
I like to keep it simple. Someone was "primarily" responsible for Ram's success of late. It was on Fred Diaz's watch when everything we see on Ram lots today were turned from ideas to design, then placed on the assembly line.- As far as Fred Diaz goes, he was in charge of the Ram division and had two poor launches, if you recall. Given that he had been in talks with Nissan when there was talk us us building their pickup's and them build small cars for us. I'm sure he likely had made some friends over there, he's a very likable man. Then given the fact that it was decided that the 1500 would use the VM and not the Cummins engine I'm sure he was not happy.
I find it funny that Nissan made him VP of Marketing not their truck division.
My bet is he was simply burned out and could not keep up with the 24/7 lifestyle that Sergio is used to, most COE's couldn't. Note this is not a slam on Diaz.
Don - Obviously there's concern about the direction Ram (Chrysler) is going to take with Fiat in control. That's a reasonable concern. However, in this day-in-age of multi-national companies it's almost moot. The vast majority of ALL US consumer products are made in China. That's a HUGE, very scary partnership on so, so many levels. Am I personally comfortable with this? Absolutely not. But, it is what it is. I get the impression there's not a whole lot of sleep lost over our relationship with China. So, why lose sleep over Fiat's controlling interest in Chrysler?
Getting back more to the point, IMO it would be kinda fruitless to delve into the mind of the Fiat CEO to get any specifics on the future direction of Ram trucks in the US. I'm sure he or she is motivated more by profits than wanting to simply exert some kind of personal control over Ram truck production. Any good CEO is going to give up this direction and control to someone most likely to make the US Ram truck line most profitable: an American executive who has very strong knowledge of the US truck market.
As I mentioned in an earlier post, Fred Diaz, (a Texan and Ram CEO until Apr 2013) is behind the current crop of Ram trucks that are doing so well.
So, who's the new Ram CEO? Isn't he or she the real key to the next generation of Ram trucks?
