Kyle Vanditmars wrote:
>
> andy levy wrote:
>> IMHO, Dodge *handed* the market for these trucks to Chevy already.
>> And Chevy even knows it.
>>
>
> I'm not saying you're wrong, but please back up your opinions. I'm
> actually intrigued about your reasoning for the statement.
It has been 6 model years since the Dak was last redesigned. There have
been few, if any, hints at a next generation. *If* we're lucky, we
might see something released in late 2004 as a 2005 or 2005.5 model,
just based on what we've seen (or, rather, not seen) thus far.
Of course, if Dodge has the most top-secret development/test program
ever, or has trotted the new one right out under our noses and we didn't
really believe it (M80), I'm completely wrong.
The Durango came out a year *after* the current Dak, and is getting a
complete overhaul for 2004. Where's the Dak in all this? Dodge at this
point has only one SUV, and only one "recent" pickup. Meanwhile, Chevy
has...it's too late for me to count them all. But it's more than one of
each, and there's one more in the pipe for '05 (Equinox).
I've been seeing spy shots of the Chevy midsize (now Colorado) for 2-3
years, maybe a little longer. Everyone has known it's coming. The only
question was "how soon?" So where has Dodge's buzz been through the
whole thing? Nothing substantial. Except the smaller M80, and the
rumors I heard for a while that Dodge was getting out of the midsize
market and going back to compact for a while. The Dodge truck engineers
devoted their energies from 2000-2002 to the new Ram. 2001-2003 to the
Ram HD and the new Durango. So now that the Rams are done and the '04
Durango is almost done, maybe they can start putting time into the next
Dakota.
Using the Durango platform for the next Dak, they can shorten the
development cycle but again, you're looking at a late 2005 model year
even if you do that. Probably closer to a 2006 model. I think the
Colorado is built on the Trailblazer platform, and that's a 2-year gap
between the Trailblazer and the Colorado being released. So 2004
Durango and 2006 Dakota is certainly plausible.
Which gives Chevy a 2-year head start on the next Dak. All those loyal
S-10 owners will jump on it for sure, and people who might have been
thinking about a Dak will certainly be enticed by this newer, similar
truck that's on the market while the Dak is still aging.
And it'll sound lame, but Chevy's even aiming directly at the Dak just
with the name. Plus, Chevy just plain does a better job of getting
product into the marketplace and building mindshare amongst consumers
and aftermatket companies alike. When the Colorado does hit the lots,
expect to see a large array of gear from third parties right away -
meanwhile, some of that stuff is still hard to come by for GenIII Daks.
I really think DC is starting to mis-read things and make bad decisions
about where the truck/SUV marketplace is going, and it's gonna hurt a
lot. All the cost-cutting we've been seeing is another example -
removing features mid-model year?
-- -andyhttp://home.twcny.rr.com/andylevy/dakota - andy-dml@levyclan.us -------------------------------------------- "Whatever Adam does, do the opposite and you'll be fine" -Bob Tom --------------------------------------------
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