Dodge Sets MSRP on 2009 Ram and RamBox

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: September 22nd, 2008

Dodge is launching its 2009 Ram into some rough sales seas. And don’t they just know it. Automotive News [sub] reports that Dodge is quietly offering $1k incentives on every all-new Ram to get sales going. But even cash on the hood of an all-new truck might not be enough. “You need money on it because you’re trading somebody out of a truck they’re upside-down in,” says Earl Hesterberg, chairman of a Houston-area Chrysler dealership group. In other words, Dodge salesfolks will have to sympathize with potential customers’ pickup depreciation before talking them into yet another (sure to depreciate like a Phoenix suburb) pickup truck. And all while the new Ram sits on lots cluttered with ’08 Rams with up to $10,500 on the hood. In other words, not good. A new 2009 Ram quad cab 4×2 SLT will sticker for $30,675, better equipped and a grand less than a comparable 2008. Remember when we told you that ChryCo was having a hard time pricing its RamBox option to be available on the new Ram Crew Cab? Well, Tom LaSorda’s baby will cost a tidy $1,895 as an option… but not until November. For that money you get lockable boxes on each side of the bed, each capable of holding “240 12-ounce beverage cans, with enough ice to keep them ready for a party,” according to Chrysler. And a stern lecture on not drinking and driving. You also get a bed divider and a bed extender. But is it gimmick enough to turn down ten grand on an ’08 model? In this economy, you’d have to guess no.

Edward Niedermeyer

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4 of 18 comments

NulloModo on Sep 22, 2008
sean362880 : September 22nd, 2008 at 1:54 pm I’m intrigued by the new Ram. It’s got a multilink coilspring rear, long overdue in full-size trucks, something which nobody (including Toyota) had the guts to engineer. I agree it’s not worth $10k more than an ‘08, but I think it’s worth $5k more. I think in a year or so, if they don’t overproduce it (hah!), this could really help Dodge. I too am interested in this design element. It doesn't strike me as something that would be terribly difficult to engineer, which is why I wonder why no one else is currently doing it (I seem to recall certain Chevy pickups in the past having rear coils instead of leaf springs). Dodge says that the rear coils don't reduce towing or payload capabilities, and that the frame is improved over the previous generation, but I'd like to see some hard data comparing the 2009 Ram, 2009 F-150, and the current Silverado and Tundra in some actual tests first. One thing I will admit is that the new Ram is a very good looking truck, Dodge has always had a good eye for exterior styling. The Ram box is also a cool idea, and combined with the other improvements across the range could give incentive to go for the '09 over the '08. In the end however, people who need trucks for work don't tend to buy Dodges. Fleets are almost entirely made up of Fords and Chevies, with most Dodge trucks I see on the road are just guys who wanted a truck.

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Davey49 on Sep 22, 2008

Chevrolet had coil springs way back in 1960-1972

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Anonymous on Sep 23, 2008

the towing capacity is lower with the rear coil springs. Yeah, with 15K on the hood of a 2008 pickup I cant imagine a single person buying this pickup for even 1,000 below invoice. Then again pickups have been priced so high to generate the cash that runs the 2.8 that pricing these things with the same margin of cars might move the metal but defeat the purpose of selling them. What about a lightweight truck? at 7,000 pounds I wonder why a double can can weigh so much when a sedan can weigh half that... What about carbon fiber?

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Anonymous on Sep 23, 2008

Are they going to put the 390hp Hemi in the 3/4 ton? Anybody know?

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