In 2009, Chrysler spun off the pickup and light commercial vehicle lineup from Dodge, creating the Ram Trucks brand. From that moment, the Dodge Ram lineup ceased to exist, but some people still refer to vehicles from both brands this way, now part of the Stellantis group along with Chrysler. This happens mostly with Ram vehicles, which many still call Dodge. However, this doesn’t seem to be a problem for executives from both companies. After all, we’re talking about brands that are under the same roof. It could have been a problem if they were competitors.
Dodge doesn’t mind people still calling Rams ‘Dodge Ram’
According to The Drive, Matt McAlear, CEO of Dodge, stated: “The biggest source of leads for Ram is actually Dodge’s website.” And what if the two brands merged again? “It’s funny. I don’t know what the right answer is. Ram’s value has skyrocketed since 2009 when we left it. It has a level of dedication that allows us to not even worry about it, allows Dodge to just be a crazy, ridiculous, outside-the-box brand where if we make 95% of people out there angry, it doesn’t matter. We’re not trying to sell to everyone, and we’re just like them if we’re not ridiculous,” McAlear said.
“I actually don’t know if it could be an advantage. It might be, but there would also be many downsides. Customers can call the brand’s vehicles whatever they want, somehow they know how to reach them,” added the Dodge CEO.
In short, over all these years, the Ram brand has become synonymous with pickups and power, just as Jeep is synonymous with off-road vehicles and Dodge with powerful muscle cars. Speaking of Jeep, a few years ago they wanted everyone to treat Wagoneer models as a “separate” brand, just as Ram and Dodge have become. But it seems the executives of both brands don’t care: “Even insurance companies still call them Dodge Ram,” McAlear concluded. Both brands pull each other along, advertising for one another.