Ram Dakota or Dodge Dakota making a comeback?
Ram Dakota or Dodge Dakota making a comeback?
Posted on May 11, 2020
Remember the Dodge Dakota? Or Ram Dakota depending on when you came across it? It was a midsize truck produced by FCA up until 2011 and did okay. It was never the prettiest truck on the road but it held its own everywhere else. Well the Dakota may be making a comeback if a recent trademark filing is anything to go by.
There have been rumours around a midsize truck from Ram for a while now. With the Ford Ranger proving so popular, Ram naturally wanted in on that action. It seems rather than start afresh with a brand new name, FCA may be reinventing the Dakota.
This is only a maybe though as automakers love to trademark stuff. Only a percentage of what they trademark, patent or protect ever makes it to production so it’s a little early to speculate too much as yet.
However.
The runaway success of the Ford Ranger has many automakers hitting the drawing boards trying to come up with a viable competitor. The Dakota could be one of them.
Ram Dakota
We know that Ram has had a midsize truck in mind for a while to sit under the Ram 1500. We know that various designs have been considered and that FCA may have selected the Jeep Gladiator to be its progenitor.
That’s not a given though as it would make equal sense to build a smaller version of the 1500 platform given how well it performs. The Gladiator has done exceptionally well since launch so basing the truck on that platform isn’t such a bad idea either.
Under the hood is likely to be the 3.6-litre V6 engine we see everywhere else in FCA’s lineup. It’s efficient, smooth and offers good power numbers and decent gas mileage. There may be smaller engines but we don’t know anything about those as yet.
The cabin and interior are likely to be much closer to the 1500 than the Gladiator. The Ram 1500 has the best truck interiors on the market and nothing even comes close. For the Dakota to have the best chance of success it would need to emulate the USP of its larger sibling.
Anything else?
Most of what we think we know about the Ram Dakota is speculation. There is a truck coming but FCA have been tight-lipped about what. Given what else has been going on in the world, the automaker has more serious issues to tackle first.
That doesn’t mean development hasn’t continued during lockdown or that the design team hasn’t been hard at work coming up with a new truck to help bolster the Ram lineup over the coming years.
For now, all we know is FCA are working on a midsize truck and that they have also trademarked the Dakota name. We will have to wait for the rest over the coming year.
In the meantime, visit Unique Chrysler Dodge Jeep Ram, 915 Walkers Line, Burlington, ON L7N 3V8 when you can to see the currently available range of Ram trucks.