2021 Dakota

Interesting

https://www.caranddriver.com/ram/dakota

I would think that RAM would bow out of this market after accomplishing truck of the year a couple times. Is the Gladiator doing that well?

https://www.motorbiscuit.com/the-jeep-gladiators-sales-numbers-are-failing-miserably/

And then there's this, a Hellcat powered Ram:

https://www.allpar.com/news/2020/03...wHpJWD39mN09oTLIGFYNDXEb_cikTfYoDZM4QXs8

I really liked the new Ford Ranger that just came out, until I saw the price. For the price of a Ranger you could buy a brand new F150.
Hopefully Ram doesn't overprice these, but you'd think there would be a sizeable market for a midsize.

In a poor marketing move, I always felt Chrysler screwed up when the dropped the midsized Dakota.
The full sized 1500 truck behemoths of today won't fit into the garages of many homes whereas a midsize will.
Plenty of midsize trucks running around here because of that.
The side view of the new Ram Dakota looks pretty nice.

I agree,but $30,000 !

Whole lot of speculation in that "report". Once the author lists their name most hard facts disappear from the article.

Yep.

They will overprice them. That's exactly how and why the big three killed the Dakota, Ranger, and S10 off in the first place. The inexpensive small trucks were stealing sales and profitability from the bloated, highly profitable full sized trucks, so they kept raising prices on the small trucks until they cost almost as much.

Seriously flawed article.

They compare Gladiator sales against the F150 and Tundra full size trucks then later compare the size to the Colorado and Tacoma. On paper, the Gladiator is a competitor to the Colorado, Ranger, and Tacoma but is more of a premium lifestyle vehicle. The sales price reflects that. As a result, the light pickup crowd will not seek out the more expensive Gladiator. Instead, they will search for more conventional and cost effective vehicles.

I have no idea what the sales goals were for the Gladiator. Knowing it's targeted at a specific market segment and is priced far more than the average midsize truck, I can't imagine Jeep expected to hit 100,000 units per year.

AFAIK there are NO pics of an actual 2021 Dakota - the lead pic in the linked story is a 1500 & here's a "SPY" photo of something claimed mid-size, but still looks BIG

Well no wonder why I thought it was so nice looking. I think the Ram 1500 is the best looking of all of the full sized trucks out there.

I totally agree. Just like Wranglers, the Gladiator is going to command a premium price and appeal to a very well defined market segment, that Jeep both defines and dominates. It’s not intended to be a sales leader.

2021 means it would come out in september and nobody has heard or seen a thing

Here are some other sales reports on the Gladiator. I have no agenda on this. Just what is being reported in the press.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news/the-jeep-gladiator-is-struggling/ar-BBZQOMk

https://www.carsdirect.com/automotive-news/jeep-gladiator-sees-discounts-amid-high-inventory

https://www.motor1.com/news/404702/2020-jeep-gladiator-discount-increase/

It looks full size to me. Is this going to be another 1500 series truck with the name 'Dakota' stuck to it?

A Dakota, sized they way they used to be, with a new Hemi would be ok.

Okay ? It would be fantastic!

I would advise them to make it the Gen 1 size, not the bloated 2010 version.

I would make the body light,
perhaps make it aluminum
now that Ford spent a fortune on learning aluminum construction details in the “school of hard knocks” that Chrysler probably knows for free through the grapevine.

I would offer powertrains of 3.6 V6
and 5.7 with a high enough diff ratio that the 5.7 rpms would only be 1300 at 60 mph in the top gear.

Chrysler ought to create a battery electric Dakota and lease it to customers.

Agree on keeping it small; the new Ranger and GM "small" trucks seem a bit too large, and I think there's a strong market for something sized like the original S10.
Light weight, 4-cyl & V6 options, 2WD & 4WD, 2 door & extended cab, 5 or 6 ft bed.
Entry price under or at $20K and relatively simple & basic, but attractive.
For years, I had 67-72 El Caminos, which were very handy for most tasks, though they had small brakes.
It seems incredible to me that pickups are $40K and up nowadays, and gigantic & overly heavy.
I think there's a big market for those who don't want/need to pose as a Paul Bunyan/Terminator caricature.

if any thing it would be renamed 2021 Fiat Strada
https://moparinsiders.com/fiat-releases-more-details-on-the-upcoming-strada-pickup/

This is probably unpopular with a few here but I’d be all about it but would want more of a crew (double) cab vs this extended cab. Vehicles cost too much to just be used in a niche way. There are times I want to go out to dinner with friends and stop real quick at Lowes. The new rangers look to be about the size of the full-size of the 80s.

All the extra safety stuff makes up a lot of the size of cars these days. Thing about how thin the door was in a 91 Toyota Truck, or an S10 etc. It would be hard to make a truck that size that was safe to todays standards. It would be shoulder to shoulder inside for sure.

not really.
with modern metal chemistry and the ultra high strength steels of today. cars aren't really any thicker under the outer sheet metal, in a few cars this is actually high strength steel now in some areas. there are just more braces.
people today demand larger interiors in their cars. this is why everything is getting so large.

Today people eat too much and need larger vehicles as a result.

Does this little truck make my fat butt & belly look big?