GM stops production of medium Duty Truck!!!

ktmlew · June 8, 2009

Bruce Amacker · June 8, 2009

That's fine with me, as they didn't have much market share anyway. More customers for Ford....

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Bruce Amacker · June 8, 2009

Light and Medium Truck trade rag just arrived. These numbers seem out of date for a June publication, but do you think Dodge is benefiting from Ford's bad diesel publicity?

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Jeff Adema · June 12, 2009

In context, Bruce. It isn't that long that Dodge has been building "medium duty trucks", So any numbers are positive numbers. That being said, would you trust a Dodge to actually work when you wanted it to work? Have you priced out a set of injectors for a 6.7 Cummins? Quote those kind of numbers to somebody who is shopping for a replacement instead of fixing their trucks, they come around to repairs and maintenance pretty quick.

Keith Browning · June 12, 2009

I don't know how you could extract that analogy when Dodge's best number is still lower than Ford's worst number. No, if there is any reasonable influence on Dodge truck sales it more than likely is due to the fact that they have been in the throws of bankruptcy and Chrysler and Dodge dealers are selling vehicles at "bargain prices" and the threat of the possibility that Dodge/Cummins devotees may not be able to buy one in the near future. In looking at the chart it looks like they have light and medium duty truck sales combined which if true is kind of stupid considering they represent two different markets... so what percentage of the drop in sales for Dodge, Chevy, GMC and Ford are Medium Duty or light duty? The rest on the list all sell medium duty trucks and bigger.

Interesting statistics none the less.

Bruce Amacker · June 12, 2009

In context, Bruce. It isn't that long that Dodge has been building "medium duty trucks", So any numbers are positive numbers.

True. When did they bring out the 550- less than 2 years ago, I think.

That being said, would you trust a Dodge to actually work when you wanted it to work?

What I think doesn't mean a hill of beans, it's what the general (truck buying) public thinks.

Have you priced out a set of injectors for a 6.7 Cummins?

Nope.

Quote those kind of numbers to somebody who is shopping for a replacement instead of fixing their trucks, they come around to repairs and maintenance pretty quick.

I could respond with all kinds of smart ass remarks to that, like, "Have you priced out a set of 6.0 heads, or multiple EGR coolers, oil coolers, turbochargers, etc," that make that set of injectors look cheap.

It's going to take more than an expensive set of Cummins injectors to overcome the 6.0's reputation. We do training for fleets that have all kinds of trucks, not just IH and Ford. I have seen far too many lifelong Ford customers switch to Dodge recently and not regret it at this point. The diesel market is a pendulum which has swung away from Ford right now, all we can do is hope the pendulum swings back. All of the turbulence in Ford's diesel products over the last few years involving the 6.0, IH lawsuits and the resulting loss as a supplier, and bringing an unproven Scorpion engine to market isn't helping them. People don't like instability. I have faith that Ford will return, but it's not going to be quick. Many customers will wait several years to watch the Scorpion engine's reliability record before purchasing one. I see a lot of mud slung at the 6.0 and some at the Dmax, but not much at the Cummins. Ford's got stiff competition right now, much stiffer than in the past when GM's 6.5 was a real piece of shit and Dodge didn't build a 450/550 chassis.

Oddly enough, the buying public listens to the "bar crowd" as much as it listens to reason, engineering, and quality. Right now the "bar crowd" hates the 6.0, and guys don't want to be razzed by their friends for buying a Ford diesel.

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