The Gear Shift

After coming off the noise and excitement of the Ford launches, I headed outside to join the crowd for the Dodge Ram launch.

Given what someone had said last night, I was looking forward to something spectacular.

Ugh – what a disappointment!

First, we’re outside in January, in Detroit, and even with a coat, hat & gloves, it’s kinda cold.

Second, it’s crowded and flat so you can’t see anything.

Third, there are no walls outside (yes really! ;-)) so the sound just goes into thin air and you can’t hear the execs talking.

Ok, so the theme of this launch is cowboys (complete with a beef jerky snack giveaway, which Khoi is enjoying right now) and what did they do, but unleash a stampede (not really, but there were herders) of bulls down Washington Blvd in front of the Cobo center.

It was one of those silly ideas that the marketing group or agency probably thought would be really cool. (I can just hear the board room conversation – “Yes, we’ll ship in 100 bulls from Texas and release them outside forthe launch of the Dodge Ram – everyone will love it!”). But it really fell flat since no one could see what was happening – no one even clapped or cheered when it happened.  Sad. :-(

But the new 2009 Dodge Ram is pretty tough with 35 new features, including a more powerful 5.7 L HEMI V-8 with 380 hp. That’s a 10% increase in horsepower over the current HEMI, but new technology will allow it to deliver a small (4%) improvement in fuel-economy. Nice!

OK – more from Chrysler tomorrow so I hope they don’t disappoint!

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• #3 Comment from waucondaonenctv 
  2/22/08 10:57 PM | Permalink

  Dodge needs to get its head on straight....I have a 1992 Dodge Ram 360 Van that I use to pull my 24' travel trailer.  At first when Dodge started using the Mercedes Sprinter Van I thought it would suffice, but further investigation showed that the Sprinter was not powerful enough to pull my trailer. Dodge discontinued the Ram 360 Van in favor of the Sprinter, and now Mercedes/Daimler Chrysler is HISTORY. So what can I do? I don't want a Ram pickup truck and a Ford, Chevy or GMC is not desirable to me. I guess I will have to rebuild and rebuild and rebuild my Dodge Ram 360 until the wheels fall off?
• #2 Comment from bprowler54 
  1/24/08 8:15 PM | Permalink

         Not only was this boring, but Dodge did not have the new Challenger at this
  show.  Dodge I think hurt the auto show by doing this, because Dodge decided to
  show the Challenger at the Chicago Auto Show, me and four freinds will not go to
  Detroit, but rather the Chicago Show. I would rather spend my money in Chicago
  even though it is farther away. At least I can see want I want to see and not what I don't  want to see.  
• #1 Comment from vrheine 
  1/15/08 7:51 AM | Permalink

  Ellen you do not know how to cover auto shows! The intro of this Ram pickup was so much better than any other pickup there. How long you've been covering auto shows? You must be real green at this stuff. It sounds like the Journal needs some better reporter with experience with in the auto industries. Stick with the weather forecasts,you might keep a job!