Just as in any map of the United States, the Ram family tree will soon play host to two Dakotas.
Ram boss Tim Kuniskis has told members of the North American motoring media the company’s upcoming mid-size pickup truck will, as widely expected, wear the Dakota name.
The move will see Stellantis re-enter the mid-size ute market, and revive the Dakota nameplate in North America. The original Dodge Dakota was launched in 1986, and slotted in underneath the full-size Dodge Ram.
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In 2010, under CEO Sergio Marchionne, Dodge’s pickup trucks and commercial vans were moved over to the new Ram brand. Despite this, the Dakota continued to feature Dodge branding prior to axing in 2011.
The new ute will do battle with the Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, and Nissan Frontier.
Apart from its name, rough size and positioning, we don’t know much about the new Ram Dakota. In order to live up to its name, as well as face up to its competitors, a body-on-frame design is almost a certainty.
It’s unclear which platform the new Dakota will use, but it may be adapted from the larger Ram 1500. In terms of engines, the Dakota is expected to feature a choice of turbocharged four- and six-cylinder engines, while rumours suggest mild hybrid and hybrid options may also be available.
Although earlier generations of the Dakota were available with V8s, it’s expected Ram will keep the eight-cylinder option for the 1500.
Badging aside, the new Dakota — or North Dakota, if you’ll allow this writer to be flippant — is expected to share nothing with the Dakota that was launched in South America in November.
That Dakota — or South Dakota to continue the analogy — is actually a lightly restyled, made-in-Argentina version of the Changan F70. This model is already sold in Mexico as the Ram 1200, potentially allowing both Dakotas to be sold side-by-side in the same showrooms.
The use of one nameplate for two completely different vehicles in different regions isn’t uncommon. For example, the Ford Explorer is best known as a large three-row SUV in its native US market, but its name is also now applied to a small electric SUV in Europe that’s based on Volkswagen’s MEB architecture.
Perhaps the most relevant example is the Nissan Frontier. The nameplate is used in many parts of Latin America on the ‘D23’ ute Australians knew as the Navara. The Frontier is also on a North America-specific model, that’s basically a redesigned and heavily updated version of the ‘D40’ Navara that was launched way back in 2004.
Confusingly both versions of the Frontier are sold in Mexico, with the D23 model badged as both the NP300 and Frontier, while the North American version is marketed as the Frontier V6.
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