Next-Gen Dodge Dakota cancelled, M80 compact truck steps to the plate

[bugsysiegel]

I wish dodge would quit f-n around and bring back the hemi and slam that beast into a dakota or an intrepid, or better yet that sissy PT cruiser, sure they just upgraded it with like 50 more horse, but crap, can you imagine about 400HP under the hood of that little stinker? That would kick bllz! Imagine the look on the guy in the Vette when your Cruiser wheelies off the light and smokes his a$$.


Swwweeeeeet.

 

[ElFenix]

hehehe hemi cruiser!


if the dakota got 10" more would it be bigger than the tundra?

 

[AndrewR]

Interesting that the numbers for the Dakota have gone down so much though I wonder how much of that is Dodge pushing people to the Ram series. In any event, ridding themselves of that truck will certainly rid themselves of more than a few customers -- I certainly won't be buying a Dodge for my next truck. I'll go smaller before I go larger. Case in point, anything larger than my Dakota would NOT fit in my current garage. In an area like this where hail storms are frequently damaging (had two this month that ruined cars within areas of this town), I would never risk buying something that I couldn't park inside.

Oh, well, maybe I'll just screw the trucks completely and buy a Subaru wagon.

 

[NFS4]

<< In any event, ridding themselves of that truck will certainly rid themselves of more than a few customers >>


Not enough to matter The M80 based pickup would surely generate more sales than the Dakota.

 

[Jeffwo]

<< I wish dodge would quit f-n around and bring back the hemi and slam that beast into a dakota or an intrepid, or better yet that sissy PT cruiser, sure they just upgraded it with like 50 more horse, but crap, can you imagine about 400HP under the hood of that little stinker? That would kick bllz! Imagine the look on the guy in the Vette when your Cruiser wheelies off the light and smokes his a$$. >>




LOL...that's exactly what I was thinking. I'd love to have one with @450 hp with some big ole fat tires, lowered to the ground.

Now that'd be schweet.

Jeff

 

[Zebo]

I'm still waiting for that Power Wagon anounced in 99'? WTF happend?

It was supposed to have a 750 ftlb torque 500 horse inline 6 turbo deisel engine and it looked beefy.

 

[NFS4]

More info:

http://www.car-truck.com/chryed/buzz/b040202.htm


<< My last column on the cancellation of the next generation Dakota has generated a ton of mail. First, the report was NOT an April Fools prank. To be honest, it didn't occur to me when I posted it that Monday was April Fools day. I'd also like to think that I could come up with something funnier then that if it was my intention to make a joke.

FYI, the way I handle a hot piece of Buzz is straightforward. My first course of action is to contact other sources in an attempt to confirm the item. Once I receive at least one confirmation from a reliable source I post it. Occasionally I'm not able to confirm something, when this happens I always state that it's an "unconfirmed item."

The item on the next generation Dakota cancellation came from a source who is always right. Nevertheless I was able to quickly confirm it with two other knowledgeable insiders. I can tell you with certainty that Chrysler has stopped their development program for the next generation Dakota (code named NB). While it's possible that this decision may be revisited in the future, one of my sources tells me that it "has a snow balls chance in hell" of being resurrected.

Several readers wrote in wondering if the decision means that the current Dakota will cease production soon? It will not. Dodge will continue to build the current Dakota through at least model year 2004. The cut off date will probably coincide with the launch of Dodge's new compact pick-up code named ND.

At this writing, ND is scheduled for launch sometime in the 2005 model year. Since ND will probably be built at Warren Truck where the Dakota is currently built, the Dakota's demise will probably be tied to the ND's launch. My guess is that 2004 will be the last year for the current Dakota. I'll keep you posted as more information comes to light.
>>

 

[Cyberian]

<< Another of my Ace Buzz Patrollers tells me that market research has shown that consumers would like the Durango to be slightly larger. Armed with that information, Dodge engineers designed the new platform with a ten-inch longer wheelbase. >>

Dodge could just use the existing Ram platform for the new Durango, although keeping the old platform just for the Dakota may not make sense because of its low sales volume.