The Year of the Ram

The Ram 1500 truck is the biggest in the market today.

John and Horace Dodge created the Dodge Brothers Motor Car Co.  a hundred years ago last October, and the company released a new advertising campaign launching for its 2015 Dodge Challenger.

Dubbed as “Ballroom–They Dreamed Big,” it debuted last October and is the first ad in a series that captures the spirit and passion of the legendary Dodge brothers for making great cars, and how their vision for the future is still very much what drives the Dodge brand today.

The TV campaign can be viewed on YouTube, and showcases upcoming Dodge vehicles including the Challenger, Charger and the Viper.

“Dodge has a very specific DNA, a bloodline that traces back to the Dodge brothers’ passion for making great cars,” said Olivier Francois, chief marketing officer at Chrysler Group LLC.

The  Ram mascot has a very Art Deco feel since it was designed in the 1930s.

“The new campaign captures the spirit of innovation and enthusiasm the Dodge brothers had when they founded the brand 100 years ago. Everything Dodge does today honors John and Horace Dodge’s legacy. Their spirit lives on through this campaign and the Dodge vehicles of today,” he said.

John Francis Dodge and his brother, Horace Elgin Dodge, were born into a family of machinists and grew up in Niles, Michigan, before the brothers moved to Detroit in 1886.

By 1896, Horace, John and their partner, Harold Evans, put up Evans & Dodge Bicycles with new wheel bearings that Horace Dodge invented.

Soon after, the Dodge brothers opened their own machine shop in began supplying parts to Henry Ford.

By 1914, they built their first car dubbed “Old Betsy,” and in just three years, Dodge became the fourth-largest American automobile manufacturer.

Locally, Dodge is distributed by CATS Motors Group, together with sister brands Chrysler and Jeep.  From compact cars, minivans, crossovers, full-size SUVs and muscle cars, Dodge brand’s lineup of 2015 models is known for delivering best-in-class horsepower, technology, and the Dodge signature racetrack tail lamps.

The all-new 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is America’s most powerful muscle car ever with its 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI Hellcat V8 engine producing a chart-topping 707 horsepower and 880.28 Newton-meters of torque.

Now, the Ram is an independent brand and is part of the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep family under the Fiat Chrysler Group.

Since 2010, Ram Trucks (formally known as the Ram Truck Division) is a spin-off from Dodge, and is the group’s brand for light to mid-weight pickup trucks. We will expect the CATS Motors Group to promote this brand independently from its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep siblings this coming Year of the Sheep.

Currently, CATS Motors has the Ram 1500 Laramie Crew pickup truck available in the local market. It has earned several awards, including the coveted 2013 North American Truck/Utility of the Year, voted by journalists. The cabin was also named as one of Ward’s best interiors.

Priced at over P3 million, it is the biggest, most powerful and most well-equipped truck in the local market today.

While the name “Ram” was not used in conjunction with any specific Dodge model until the early 1980s, the iconic charging Ram logo has been seen since the 1930s. The first Ram radiator cap appeared at the hood of Dodge vehicles in 1932 designed by sculptor Avard Fairbanks.

Legend has it that Walter P. Chrysler was not so sure about Fairbanks’ Ram mascot but as Fairbanks succinctly asked him what he would do if he saw a ram in the wild, Chrysler replied “Dodge!” He then said, “That’s what I want—go with it.”

The logo was used from 1932 to 1954, and then briefly revived in 1974 on the hood of the Dodge Ram Charger. By 1981, its chair Lee Iacocca revived its use to tap into the brand’s rich heritage.