RAM on the downslide?

[Dewey]

Interested to hear thoughts on this.

 

[millerbjm]

I have lost interest in anything Ben Hardy has to say - seems like he is just producing lower quality content for ad revenue with less substance. The pandemic severely disrupted the auto market and RAM coped better than most of their competitors but now Fird is starting to get their act together and catch-up on fleet sales which is a big part of their numbers and Chevy/GMC finally have a competitive product so Ram is slowing their crazy run of huge market share growth. I do think they need to really do something special with the next model change to stay on top in a super competitive market.

 

[Dewey]

Fair assessment on some of his content but I do agree with his pricing concerns. There’s no denying these MSRP’s have really gotten out of hand the last few years much more so on RAM’s than any other brand. Thankfully dealers like Mark Dodge are softening that blow a bit for many here but the average truck buyer out there isn’t going that route and moves on after seeing the sticker prices. Won’t be long and we’ll be seeing a $100,000 upper trim level 1500. Getting very close already and may even be possible with some dealer addons. Well over with a 2500 and a Cummins.

 

[SD Rebel]

First quarter for 2023 isn't pretty for RAM, Stellantis stated they are trying to keep incentives down to increase margins.

So sell less units but make more money is what they are trying to do. It may take a while to see how well that strategy plays out to the actual bottom line.

 

[millerbjm]

Fair assessment on some of his content but I do agree with his pricing concerns. There’s no denying these MSRP’s have really gotten out of hand the last few years much more so on RAM’s than any other brand. Thankfully dealers like Mark Dodge are softening that blow a bit for many here but the average truck buyer out there isn’t going that route and moves on after seeing the sticker prices. Won’t be long and we’ll be seeing a $100,000 upper trim level 1500. Getting very close already and may even be possible with some dealer addons. Well over with a 2500 and a Cummins.

I guess I'll have to look at a few builds to compare - a cursory look at the middle of the pack models seemed to show Ford starting cheapest by 1k, then RAM and then Chevy at the top south 41k, 42k and 44k starting MSRPs for the 2nd trim up from base models.

 

[HSKR R/T]

Ram had lower entry level pricing and huge incentives to get buyers in the door. That's catching up with them, and why prices have gone up as much as they have. You are now paying for the better quality build. Chevy and Ford are still playing catch up with regards to build quality especially with the interiors. Ram does need to step up with me than just a digital gauge cluster

 

[SD Rebel]

The lower starting points of their respected MSRPs is not where the volume is, it's at the middle and higher levels of the MSRP where they are all similar. This is where the incentives matter, and Stellantis is trying to keep that down. Factor in higher interest rates where even 800 scores don't get great rates, and you have a recipe for lower sales.

Simply put, RAM has always been the truck with the better deal, sometimes you were buying the deal and not the truck. That has changed a bit with the DT generation, but people still expect incentives, especially if both GM and Ford are offering them.

 

[boogielander]

Ford F -series growth is largely fleet sales imo.
And also Ram is due for another update while most competitors are all recently updated.

But in terms of build quality and engineering... Ram still takes the cake for higher trim levels. I was working on a 3rd gen raptor and that interior was no good. Was working on a newest Silverado and Sierra and the interior felt cheap too.