Ram released its new Pickup, and the truck is making waves. I drove the truck at the press event and came away impressed with the model. In that first-drive review of the vehicle, I said, “Ram truly brings trucks into the modern age.” I stand by that statement today. However, this truck has done better than I ever would have imagined. Ram’s sales are booming.
In 2019, the brand saw Pickup sales rise by about 97,000 units when compared to 2018. The total number of Ram trucks sold in 2019 was 633,694. In 2018, the brand sold 536,980 trucks. That’s an increase of more than 15 percent just for truck sales. The brand itself saw a similar 15 percent increase in sales for 2019 over 2018. So almost all of the brand’s sales gains came from the Pickup.
Marketshare for Ram also increased. It went up by more than 16 percent, meaning Ram is connecting with more consumers nationwide. It’s easy to see why this is happening. The truck is, to put it plainly, better than the competition. It’s a truck that will literally reshape the truck market.
With electric trucks on the horizon, the truck industry is in for a serious shake-up, but even before electric trucks hit, Ram has already changed things for the conventional truck market. And you know what, this isn’t the first time.
I get this and agree with their point about 1994. But by 1999, I'm not sure that was still true - especially with the legendary GMT-800 debut. I think mine is a Laramie SLT, and yeah I guess it's nice for the time, for a truck. Seems really basic by today's standards. Was the GMT-400 really much less fancy? Maybe it was in 94 but it was refreshed in like 95 I think...and I'll take the GMT-400 powertrains every time.Up until the mid-1990s, trucks were seen as more-or-less work vehicles. Sure, they were often used to move families from place to place, but they were almost exclusively owned by working-class folks who really needed a truck for their day-to-day activities. Dodge (which later became Ram) changed that with the introduction of the 1994 second-gen Ram pickup.
The truck was named Motor Trend’s “Truck of the Year” in 1994, and the brand’s slogan for the model was “The rules have changed.” It was an accurate claim. Car and Driver called the truck a “barrel-chested gorilla of a truck.”
The 1994 model could be had in the lowly Work Special trim level, but it could also be had in LT, ST, and Laramie SLT. The Laramie SLT was a truly luxurious truck and it changed the way people looked at pickups.
The interior of the Ram Laramie SLT wasn’t only more luxurious than other pickups, it was also more advanced, the center console/armrest was large enough to store a laptop, which was a first. Pair that with many other luxury features we now take for granted like cloth interior, power windows and locks, and an AM/FM cassette radio.
Eh. Were the V10 and Cummins interesting in the 3/4 ton and 1 ton market? Sure they were. Though GM trucks had a way better ride/handling than the solid front axle 4WD 3/4 and 1 tons. And I still do not agree with what they are saying about 1/2 tons, either.It wasn’t just the interior that set this truck apart. The way it looked and how it drove were both important factors for this pickup. Every publication that reviewed it likened the styling to big-rigs and also compared the truck’s performance and driving characteristics to sedans of that same time period.
In short, the second-generation Dodge Ram was a revelation for the pickup truck world. It drove better than other trucks. It was more comfortable than other trucks, and it looked more impressive, too.
But I agree with the rest of the article overall. Though, for all of the in-my-opinion too busy/flashy center console, TFL Truck just tried an impromptu nav test involving a simple request to navigate to a nearby restaurant. The GMC nailed it on the first try ("navigate to Snarfs"). They tried twice with the Ram; the first time it changed the satellite radio station and the second time it seemed to understand the navigate command, but then got completely lost. I think that was a good example of the GMC no-nonsense interior and putting functionality over bling (and the appearance of high technology).
Conclusion: competition is good.Ford, Chevrolet, and GMC all know that Ram has captured the truck consumers’ attention, and they need to try to win it back. GMC even has a few tricks up its sleeve right now with its CarbonPro bed and MutiPro Tailgate, but those aren’t enough. These three automakers need to up their game.
Ram’s new truck is selling faster than Ford, Chevy, and GMC trucks, and Ram did that in an industry that saw roughly 400,000 fewer vehicle sales in 2019 than it did in 2018. I would expect Ram to continue to see sales growth and continue to gain marketshare in the coming months.
Other truck manufacturers will come around to making their pickup trucks as good as Ram’s, but at the moment, they’re behind. The real question is, how close can Ram get to the segment leader—the Ford F-150—before Ford is able to put out a truck that will help it make up some of the ground it has lost? Ram has already passed up Chevy, and it left GMC in the dust a while back (although GMC’s sales are actually up).