We’re playing a name game today, and as luck would have it, there’s no wrong answer to this question. As we’ve told you before, Ram has a midsize model on the way, ready to (eventually) do battle with Chevrolet’s Colorado and Toyota’s Tacoma and Ford’s long-awaited-but-not-really-new Ranger. Yes, there’s other midsizers to contend with, too.
Plenty of mystery still surrounding this vehicle, but it’ll apparently appear in roughly two years’ time, suppliers say, and it’ll sport a frame, not a platform. What it doesn’t have right now is a name, or at least one that Fiat Chrysler’s willing to reveal. That’s where you come in.
Just a word of warning about one potential name, though…
If any of you wish to see a return of the truly awesome “Ramcharger” name, we regret to inform you that FCA US LLC just trademarked that moniker for use on an in-vehicle wireless phone charging device. It seems the automaker isn’t above using heritage model names on unlikely creations. Obviously, someone in Auburn Hills was hanging around with a bad influence from Ford.
Anyway, there’s a truck in need of a name here. Something rugged, something Manley manly, and something not so Southwestern in origin that people think it’s a Hyundai, sight unseen. “Dakota” remains an obvious choice — it’s rooted in Chrysler Corp truck history, never mind that the truck behind the script was a Dodge. But maybe Ram’s progressed too far as a brand to have that happen.
Dakota reminds people not only of a non-Ram brand, but of a model that withered, dried up, and blew away in the immediate aftermath of the recession. And, as we saw during the recent 2019 Ram 1500/Martin Luther King, Jr. ad kerfuffle, too many people still assume Ram is a model produced by Dodge, not a standalone brand. Resurrecting the Dakota name could just add more confusion. The move away from the signature crosshair grille was Ram’s way of severing the visual ties to its Dodge past and striking out on its own.
No, Dakota seems wrong, despite name recognition making it seem so right. (If you’re curious, FCA renewed the Dakota trademark in 2009, and the earliest it can file for another renewal is November 7th of this year. The latest it can file is May 7th, 2020.)
Can’t say I find the removal of a zero from the Ram 1500’s name appropriate, either. Sure, the Ram 150 was a model designation once upon a time, but it resided on a full-size model. A Dodge model, to be sure. The full-sizer is now the 1500, and adding a 150 line, though numerically proper given the 1500’s larger size, would again create confusion — only this time among the Ram ranks.
What to do? For once, I’m at a loss for ideas. Can’t come up with a single name, though I’m sure if I looked at a map of the Great Plains long enough, I’d see a few knockouts.
So, it’s time to hand the levers of power and all the naming decisions that come with it to you, B&B. What should Ram call this truck?
[Image: ©2016 Murilee Martin/TTAC]
Ram Rampage (would be nice name for a trim level on the 1500 though)
Should just be called the Dakota though.
” we regret to inform you that FCA US LLC just trademarked that moniker for use on an in-vehicle wireless phone charging device.
That just about perfectly sums up the automotive landscape right now, although I mostly associate that with GM sullying past names, FCA is offering some of the craziest unabashedly hi-po cars and trucks on the market right now.
I can’t be the only one who got a genuine laugh out of seeing Ramcharger on that wireless charging pad. Kudos to Chrysler, at least someone there has a sense of humor.
My dad had a Ramcharger so I definitely got a laugh out of it. When I was very young I thought his truck was some special model meant to jump start other cars.
The thread started by the commercial van line could be continued: Promaster, Promaster City…
Call the new truck Promaster Suburb!
Off-roady version with some Rubicon equipment slapped on could be the Promaster Deep Woods. They could do a tie-in with Off! Deepwoods and mist DEET into the exhaust. Maybe I’m just ready for mosquito season to be over…
Or give up on Ram and call it the Dodge City.
I always think PornMaster when I see that ugly van……. They could have a Stormy Daniels edition.
Ramjet
You’re way overthinking this, Steph. A mid-sized pickup from Ram should be a Dakota. If all of your concern about confusion with a Dodge model were valid, then the entire use of Ram as a brand would be a mistake. And anyone who would actually be confused probably thinks Rams are Dodges anyway.
I was thinking something western. Not sure if they still use the ‘Laramie’ as a trim package or not. They already have a Durango and I am trying to think of another Colorado town name that sounds tough enough.
Telluride maybe? nah too posh sounding I think. Gunnison? Probably the appropriate town to have a truck named after it.
I am in agreement though. Dakota should be the name. No one remembers why it is no longer, 2008 recession and all. I think overall, memories are shorter than we give credit for. The only ones with long term are on this site.
the Ram Toledo. Perfect for reminding everyone where it was made.
Toledo is a Seat sedan, and shares a platform with the VW Santana.
nuts, I liked that one.
Kia is coming out with a large SUV called the Telluride, so probably not available.
Ram Dakota just doesn’t have a good ring to it. For no other reasons, they need to find a better name.
Maybe rebranding Dodge trucks as Rams was the mistake. Maybe a Ram 1200? 150 should be reserved for a compact truck.
I understand why they did this, but it was a bad idea as far as model designations go.
They did this in the early times of their huge financial down spiral. HQ knew the trucks could still be profitable and needed a way to ensure that if the company (Dodge) failed as whole, their profitable entities could remain, hence making RAM it’s own brand.
Might as well hire Monty Python to do the ad campaign.
Man walks into the dealership. “Yes, I would like to purchase a lorry…I mean…truck. What have you got?”
Salesman – “Well, we have:
Promaster and Ram
Promaster, Power Wagon and Ram
Promaster, Power Wagon, Cherokee and Ram
Ram, Power Wagon, Cherokee and Ram
Ram, Promaster, Ram, Ram, Power Wagon and Ram
Ram, Ram, Ram, Promaster and Ram
Ram, Cherokee, Ram, Ram, Ram, Power Wagon, Ram, Comanche and Ram
Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, Ram, The Dude, Ram, Ram, Ram and Ram.”
Could I get one with a little less Ram in it?
:o)
The Ram “Liberator”
A lot of heritage there for us geezers and the name works by itself for those that don’t remember the WW2 bomber.
I think we have a winner.
My Flying Fortress desktop background is offended.
Weren’t most B-24s built at the Ford Willow Run factory?
Yes, but that shouldn’t reflect badly since Consolidated Aircraft designed the plane. During the war effort all the automotive companies built each other designs or other company designs. Heck, Ford even made Jeeps at that time!
I could see FCA using the Yankee Air Museum at Willow run to aid in a commercial. Maybe even a “Rosy the Riveter” flashback getting the job done then panning to modern Toledo assembly line ??
Aircraft names can be good for cars and trucks. Just avoid names like de Havilland or consumers might worry about the roof of their pickup peeling off at speed. Although Mercury did produce the Comet.
Willow Ram?
WARLOCK.
Sno-Fiter/Commander
It’s easier to find names that don’t work than it is to find one that does. The biggest hurdle is that “Ram” is not an easy name to pair up with anything. I agree that Dakota seems logical at first, but doesn’t work well with Ram. I took a quick look at Colorado, Wyoming and Montana cities starting with an R for inspiration, but just came up with ideas that are just plan wrong. Rosebud and Roundup are both cities in Montana, but would make this truck sell worse than if it were called a Fiat. In looking at trim levels used on a Ram 1500, some possibilities include Laramie and Rebel. I like the idea of Rebel, although it has a history of being a Rambler then an AMC car. Even with that, Rebel is my choice right now.
If they named it “Rebel”, the new owner of the baby Rebel would have to potentially delineate that they drive the Ram Rebel, not the Ram 1500 Rebel.
Name works well when paired with Ram, but couldn’t happen unless the 1500 dropped the Rebel moniker.
Ram Mutineer. Keeps with the theme that way of a smaller 1500 Rebel package.
Ram R-1000.
Then continuing with a Ram R-1500 name change, to the R-3500, plus the R-4500/5500 cab-n-chassis’, all under the “R-series” line of trucks.
Ramm 1000 wouldn’t be too bad actually
Anything with “Ram” in the name makes the combination of make and model sound like a stutter.
Dakota is a shoe-in as far as I’m concerned, but mining names from the past…
Express
Warrior
Raider
150 (unlikely, but possible)
Saratoga?
Fargo?
Adventurer?
Pacesetter?
They can’t use Saratoga now because that means the chips you get when you expected French fries.
Bummer. How about the Ram Pommes Frites?
Excellent! I want one now just for the inevitable packages that would result.
I want my Freedom Fries Edition with the Ranch package, please! S’il Vous Plait.
I like Fargo. There is Chrysler heritage there with the Fargo name going way back, and Chrysler Canada marketed re-badged Dodge trucks at Plymouth dealerships under the Fargo name until 1972.
Look at the headline image. Look carefully.
That badge says:
DAKOTA
SPORK
They were jealous of Ford’s F-3150!
I lean toward rugged-western-sounding names: Mojave (formerly used on a Jeep Wrangler special edition), Yosemite (version with a Hemi could be the “Half Dome”), Yellowstone, Alamo, Bandelier, Chaco, Mesa, Llano, Capitan, …
…Truth or Consequences, Clovis, Waco, Amarillo, Maricopa, Surprise, Pahrump,…
… Cimarron — Okay, maybe not Cimarron.
I want to go in another direction. How about tired factory towns?
Birmingham
Joliet
Youngstown
Wilkes-Barre
Framingham
I like that idea geozinger, even better if they opened a new factory at the city whose name they borrowed.
@geozinger beat me to it, but I was going to also suggest “Adventurer”, a trim line on ’70s Dodge pickups.
If Dakota wont’t do, then use Comanche since it will be built in a Jeep factory.
After a bit of noodling, it should be called the ‘eN’.
In full (for those who haven’t had their coffee yet), it would be the RAM eN.
Or if following the place name theme, how about Paige Arizona?
Simply would be called the RAM Paige.
Call it the Dakota, and definitely use the emblem in that photo. Reminds me of a Duran Duran album cover.
Little Red Express.
They will save the Little Red Express for the Hellcat powered one!
Ummm…resurrect Don Knotts for a spokesman and call it the Ram Dude?
Lamb…as in, it’s a RAM (a) Lamb, you ding dong!
But seriously folks…
Ram Ewe
Too bad RamRunner was already used and dead in water back in 2011.
How about “Ramkota”?
Yes, there’s a hotel chain by that name (affiliated with Best Western), but think of all the cross-promotional possibilities.
Ram-ewe ?
A Ewe is a female sheep and it’s pronounced like “you”…play on words…
Ram Redwood
Ram Ruckus (would have to pay Honda something)
Ram Trail Chief
Ram Recon (jeep family tie-in)
Ram Mule
Seriously, I’m like the Ram Adventurer suggestion. Or perhaps the Ram Overland- that’s worth at least a 20% markup with the current “expedition”-style interest, and gets the attention of the more financially influential crowd that buy trucks for lifestyle instead of work.
That said, I had a Dakota like the one in the picture. Was it a great truck, no. But it was a good truck. I hope they don’t screw this up.
IMO, the most appealing thing about the Dakota was that it could be built with a V8.
That was the reason several people I know bought a Dakota, and are still driving that rolling wreckage today.
Dodge BallJointFailure#265. GREAT name!
I like Fargo as well giving a nod to our neighbors in the North and the long heritage of the Fargo truck. Seriously, FCA should consider this name for a midsize Ram truck. Ram Fargo has a nice sound to it.
Mid-sizers are typically 7/8 scale full-sizers so Ram 1312.5 would be appropriate.
I like Ram 1200, Ram Rebel, and Ram Fargo.
Rebel would obviously need to be dropped as a package on the full-size trucks were it applied to the smaller truck. Ford has successfully transferred many names that were formerly trim packages into models, including Ranger, Villager, Explorer and Edge.
Ram Mule
Ram Trail Chief
I really like previous suggestion of Ram Fargo