What's Wrong With This Picture: Yeah, It's Got A Hemi Edition

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: August 16th, 2010

what s wrong with this picture yeah it s got a hemi edition

Jeep’s Grand Cherokee has earned consistently positive reviews by maintaining its off-road capability and nailing one of the few untouched crossover market positions between mass-market minivan replacements and high-end luxury SUVs. Does that mean the Dodge version, which will bear the Durango nameplate, will be similarly received? Not necessarily. Expected to be less off-road capable than its Jeep cousin, the Durango will compete head-to-head with the new Ford Explorer, GM’s Lambda juggernaut, and a pack of established mid-large CUV competitors. The Durango will also be the toughest trial yet for the tortured relationship between Dodge and the ostensibly spun-off Ram brand, as the Durango has traditionally resembled the Ram off which it used to be based (need proof? Dodge is calling the Durango a “three-row performance SUV”). On the positive side of the Durango’s balance sheet: an optional Hemi engine. Sure, the Grand Cherokee offers that too, but the Jeep brand doesn’t get to call it a Hemi. Now that’s what you call differentiation!

#Branding #Dodge #Durango #FutureVehicles

Edward Niedermeyer

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9 of 27 comments

Mjz on Aug 16, 2010

Ay least the JGC and the Durango will have more differtiation than Traverse/Acadia/Enclave.

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- GarbageMotorsCo. on Aug 16, 2010
  
  That's not hard to do. The Outlook rebadge was gone and made way for the Traverse. All 4 followed the same mission, same engine, same transmission, same seating for 7, same ride height, overlapping price structures. Same problems with snapped camshafts, bad trannies, water leaks and goofy electrical gremlins like rear hatches that would open on their own or interior electrical systems farting out. I know way too many folks who have had all of these (and more) problems and it is not left to the "lesser" Chevys and Saturns but more Buick Enclaves than anything. And once these things get up in miles and start having belt stretching problems like my CTS had (same HFV6) it's going to get real ugly. Now we wait for the Caddy version to appear next and voila, GM the rebadging "circle of Lambdas" is completed ;/
  
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SCE to AUX on Aug 16, 2010

There are four four-letter words keeping Chrysler alive today: 1. Jeep 2. Hemi 3. Vans 4. Fiat Maybe this new Durango entry will help a bit.

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- See 5 previous
- PrincipalDan on Aug 16, 2010
  
  The Vans? Oh you mean the Sprinter or the Caravan/Town and Country? I was confused for a min there. I was trying to remember when the last time was I saw a full size Dodge Conversion Van. Those would have been sweet with a Hemi or a Cumins.
  
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- SCE to AUX on Aug 16, 2010
  
  @educatordan: Just the minivans, really. So much for my journalistic cleverness. I don't even like the latest Chrysler minivan product, but I guess many others do.
  
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- PrincipalDan on Aug 16, 2010
  
  You'll have to forgive me. I grew up in NW Ohio and was close to "THE WORLD'S LARGEST CONVERSION VAN DEALER" in Richmond, IN. Anything that fit the definition of "van" I saw during my childhood fully pimped out.
  
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- Ian Williams on Aug 16, 2010
  
  ...as well as a seven letter word: Cummins. The residuals on Dodge diesel pickups are up there with with the ToyHonda appliances. A lot of guys purchase their the 3/4 and 1 ton for the Red under the hood. Unless you want to get a CDL and roll a Binder or Paccar product the Ram is the only game in town.
  
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- M 1 on Aug 17, 2010
  
  Don't knock the Sprinter. They sell large numbers of Sprinter 2500s to FedEx and other delivery guys (who work as independent contractors) and the like. I also noticed a lot of them on-site when my house was being built a couple years back. These are typically independent guys too small to swing fleet sales deals, although to be fair they're usually stripped-down base models, too. Not sure if they qualify for OP's "keeping Chrysler alive" comment but they do sell steadily and in volume. As an interesting aside, they are 100% identical to the Benz Sterling vans at about half the price. In fact I have a friend with a rather specialized business (installing elevators in mansions) who "converted" his Sprinter to look like a Sterling for about $3K. His type of clientele are impressed, so it was a worthwhile effort.
  
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- Th009 on Aug 17, 2010
  
  @M1, the Sprinters are great vans -- but they are doing nothing to keep Chrysler alive. The OEM contract between Daimler and Chrysler has been terminated, and the Dodge dealers can no longer sell them. Instead, it's the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter now, like it always has been in Europe. Sometime in the future, Dodge is supposed to be getting new commercial vans from Fiat and/or Iveco.
  
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