You ain't kiddin'. Er, yeah, you are...

This has bad idea written all over it. Launching a brand -- even with a name already well known -- is MASSIVELY expensive. As a use of marketing money, nothing compares to the cost of advertising, signage, distribution and collateral communications for a new brand.

That said, Dodge is a brand with no future at all. But still, between revival and launching *another* risky venture, this is a terrible marketing move.

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Bad idea indeed!

For starters I have a Dodge Charger R/T. It looks cool, it starts but it is probably the most breakable car I've ever had. I wish I could get the power that's inside it with its look in the durability and quality of a Ford Crown Victoria / LTD.

I'm mentioning this because A: The Dodge Charger R/T and the Chrysler 300 R/T are the same car with the same problems. The only thing that separates them is exterior paneling and a huge sticker price increase on the 300.

B: With this quality challenge (steering components, shocks, seals, busted navigation, rotting wheels, there's not a chance in hell that Chrysler can compete with Lincoln or Caddy!

C: The Sebring, PT Cruiser (RIP) and Town and Country Mini Vans are the only vehicles with a "Chrysler" nameplate on them.

So the plan is to ditch the mini van which is the number one seller they have because luxury brands don't sell minivans! And then market the name which offers instantly failing automobiles with lots of oomph and cool designs against quality leading Lexus, Lincon and Caddy cars?

Ain't happening! I agree on the budget thing too! It will cost billions to re-market the brand and guess what, it won't work unless you fix the product first and at that rate you need a 10 year grass roots efforts to get a core audience that didn't buy your car because it was "cool looking with ooomph" instead bought it because "it's rock solid and a value compared to competitive models".

I could have just said "FAIL".. I guess!

Hope this was a good read!

And Dodge going away? OMG The Charger, the Challenger and the Viper? To ME that's all this company has! The trucks IMO are pieces of poo. They look ballsy, have power but FAIL when it comes to actually doing something other than driving them! That's why so many people buy the F150 and the Silverado. They are LIGHTYEARS ahead of the game!

You know what? Come to think of it, I think this company if completely F'ed... DOH!!! To bad, I love the designs!

This is what they should do!
Dodge = Performance Cars
Chrysler = Normal Cars
Jeep = Truck Division (Ram Included)
New Luxury Brand = Call it "Maserati" (owned by Fiat / stake holder)

But still, you dilute the traffic by doing this! The truck customers are not ONLY truck customers! By splitting it up you have to market more. For what it's worth, I think Lincoln Mercury is a brilliant way to setup a dealership! Same spot, two brands, more traffic! Now only if they could give Mercury a little zoom zoom, it would be perfect!

Anyway....

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Paul, they're not exactly launching a new brand, are they?

"Ram" is pretty well known to truck buyers.

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I was thinking that Dodge trucks are already thought of as Ram trucks. But that doesn't make this a good idea.

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GREAT idea!

The Detroit 3 have been so good at creating brands.

P.S. Could someone please tell me how the U.S. taxpayers are EVER going to get our money back? For all the money we threw at Chrysler, we could have re-trained all their workers instead of allowing Chrysler to continue to make piss-poor decisions like this.

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Exactly what I was thinking. They could pull one from their past.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dodge#Logos

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Yes, but it will not be changed much. The Ram brand will keep the ram head, and the Dodge brand will keep the same shield, only with an image of the OTHER end of the ram.

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Meh, I don't really like any of those logos, how about making a new one.

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Assuming they live, whatever the new logo is it should be called a Fratzog.

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Haha Pokey I laughed so hard snot came out of my nose.

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Replace the Ram's head with a certain snake's head. Nothing will evoke the performance image like that. But please don't put it on the Caliber.

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I don't know if this compares to GM having had, what was it, 8 brands at a time? I mean, the specific point of this move is to have each brand center on something different. The problem that GM had was it was pitting the Aura, G6, and Malibu against each other. There was way too much overlap. This might turn out to be not so bad, I just wish Chrysler could get over the LX platform and try something better for the next round.

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Okay, that is right. I thought it was a complexity issue for management and distribution but I can see how the issue was a product overlap problem.

Not sure what this move does though. Dodge = cars. Dodge+Ram = trucks, is there anything else? Soon, Dodge = cars, Ram = trucks. What's the diff? Something else = cars soon? Fiat Charger?

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Well, I don't know if it was too many brands as much as it was too many *overlapping* and poorly managed brands. I actually see this approach as sound -- make each one nonintersecting, and it makes a lot more sense. People don't really think of the Charger when they see a Ram, so why not make it separate. The Ram brand can be the tough, commercial, get-s*#$-done brand, and Dodge can be the sensible everyman's car.

Moving Chrysler upclass also makes sense in order to further distinguish it from Dodge, as long as they can pull it off. They'll have to really crack the whips on the quality assurance teams.

Jeep, of course, needs to cut the crap out. Drop the Compass and Patriot, and stop wussifying the Liberty.

Four clear-cut brands are a lot easier to market and sell than three muddy overlapping ones.

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I agree, too many brands is a problem but the bigger problem is overlapping brands. This could work if Dodge is purely cars and Ram is purely trucks, vans and Suvs but how long is that going to last before dodge begins to demand an SUV which will just be a rebranded Ram? If Chrysler can keep a tight hold on their dealer network and require every Dodge dealer also have a Ram counterpart it could work maybe.

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With the Chrysler brand going after Cadillac, in Fiat's desire, they could fill the gap between Dodge and Chrysler with Plymouth as a Buick competitor.

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