DaimlerChrysler raises prices 1% on Dodge Ram heavy-duty pickup

July 22, 2002

Auburn Hills, Mich. Alan Ohnsman writing for Bloomberg reports DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler raised prices on new heavy-duty Dodge Ram pickup trucks about 1 percent from the models they replace and added a more powerful engine.

The base price for a new Dodge Ram Heavy Duty pickup with a regular cab, the lowest-cost model, will be $22,540, 1.1 percent more than for a 2002 Ram 2500, Chrysler said in a statement. The 2003 pickups are expected to go on sale late this year, spokesman Rick Deneau said. They will have a 5.7-liter, 345 horsepower V-8 engine, replacing a 5.9-liter, 245 horsepower version.

Chrysler, the third-largest U.S. automaker, sells more Ram pickups than any other model. U.S. sales of the pickups rose 15 percent to 195,339 this year through June, helped by the new Dodge Ram 1500 version. The automaker's total first-half U.S. sales fell 3 percent to 1.16 million.

The Ram Heavy Duty trucks will compete with Ford Motor Co.'s F-250 and F-350 models and General Motors Corp.'s Chevrolet Silverado and GMC models, Deneau said. A new Heavy Duty 2500 Regular Cab ST 4x2 will sell for $24,365, $175 more than for the 2002 model, while a typical Heavy Duty 3500 Regular Cab ST 4x2 will cost $26,259, also up $175, the company said.

The trucks will be built in Saltillo, Mexico, and St. Louis.