Dodge Versus Ram Case Study: Nitro

by Edward Niedermeyer

Published: November 4th, 2009

The problem with branding exercises like Chrysler’s decision to split Ram from Dodge, is that they tend towards abstraction. Luckily, the back-from-the-dead Nitro is a good case study for how this split will play out. You might think that based on its aggressive styling and upright stance that it would make sense as a Ram-branded vehicle. But you’d be wrong. It will actually be positioned as a youth-market vehicle, within the Dodge brand. Hit the jump for an official concept of the Nitro’s possible repackaging.

And here it is. What this image illustrates is how lost the Dodge brand appears to have become. Because the Ram line overshadowed and helped define so many Dodge products, the re-branding of Dodge is a huge challenge. So apparently it’s turning into an mass-market Scion. As Dodge’s CEO Ralph Gilles put it, New Dodge products should “feel like niche products while offering mass-market appeal,” because “there are no more niches.” But if Gilles admits that Dodge’s problems flowed from trying to be all things to all people, removing the single element that tied it all together (Ram-ness) doesn’t seem to solve anything.

Edward Niedermeyer

More by Edward Niedermeyer

Comments

Join the conversation

2 of 32 comments

Martin Albright on Nov 05, 2009

I'm probably very much in the minority here but I like the Nitro better than its Jeep sibling, the Liberty, which to me looks silly and contrived with its faux fenders. The newer, more squared-off liberty is an improvement over the cutesy-poo original, but I still like the Nitro better. I think the Nitro is a cleaner design, somewhat reminiscent of a late 90's XJ Cherokee. Does the Nitro have the same underpinnings as the Liberty with a 2 speed transfer case?

Like Reply
Accs on Nov 28, 2009

Can someone please PLEASE tell me the point of the Nitro. And what YOUTH appeal they are talking about.. especially when all of the "youth" are driving around in 4yr old Burbans completely empty... What exactly does a Nitro do.. that others cant. Besides belong to a govt owned company?

Like Reply

Recent Comments

Cprescott People do silly things to their cars.
Jeff This is a step in the right direction with the Murano gaining a 9 speed automatic. Nissan could go a little further and offer a compact pickup and offer hybrids. VoGhost--Nissan has  laid out a new plan to electrify 16 of the 30 vehicles it produces by 2026, with the rest using internal combustion instead. For those of us in North America, the company says it plans to release seven new vehicles in the US and Canada, although it’s not clear how many of those will be some type of EV.Nissan says the US is getting “e-POWER and plug-in hybrid models” — each of those uses a mix of electricity and fuel for power. At the moment, the only all-electric EVs Nissan is producing are the  Ariya SUV and the  perhaps endangered (or  maybe not) Leaf.In 2021, Nissan said it would  make 23 electrified vehicles by 2030, and that 15 of those would be fully electric, rather than some form of hybrid vehicle. It’s hard to say if any of this is a step forward from that plan, because yes, 16 is bigger than 15, but Nissan doesn’t explicitly say how many of those 16 are all-battery, or indeed if any of them are.  https://www.theverge.com/2024/3/25/24111963/nissan-ev-plan-2026-solid-state-batteries
Jkross22 Sure, but it depends on the price. All EVs cost too much and I'm talking about all costs. Depreciation, lack of public/available/reliable charging, concerns about repairability (H/K). Look at the battering the Mercedes and Ford EV's are taking on depreciation. As another site mentioned in the last few days, cars aren't supposed to depreciate by 40-50% in a year or 2.
Jkross22 Ford already has an affordable EV. 2 year old Mach-E's are extraordinarily affordable.
Lou_BC How does the lower case "armada" differ from the upper case "Armada"?