cars news 10: FCA May Build Large SUV Based on Ram Pickup

Large body-on-frame SUVs command big profit margins for automakers, and now Fiat Chrysler wants a piece of the pie. The company may build a large SUV to compete with models like the Chevrolet Tahoe, reports the Detroit Free Press.

The platform underpinning the current Ram pickup could serve well on a large SUV, said Ram CEO Mike Manley. But we might have to wait until the next-generation Ram pickup debuts. The new pickup should head to market in early 2018.

“You have the opportunity with a new frame for the next-generation Ram,” Manley said. “You have the opportunity to take a large SUV off of it because we already have a very, very capable frame today that is going to be upgraded.”

Although it will be based on the Ram pickup, the SUV is likely destined for one of FCA’s other brands: Jeep, Dodge, or Chrysler.

The full-size pickup market is undoubtedly lucrative, but FCA is missing out on potentially huge profits by not offering a large SUV similar to the ones from Ford and GM. Analysts estimate that GM makes at least $10,000 for each large SUV it sells. Last year, GM sold a total of more than 200,000 copies of its Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe, Chevrolet Suburban, and GMC Yukon models.

Ram might also see the return of a midsize pickup offering in the near future. “We’re looking into it,” Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said earlier this year about a midsize Ram truck. It’s yet to be determined whether it would adopt a body-on-frame setup.

Meanwhile, FCA is plotting a large SUV for Jeep under the Wagoneer label. The Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer will both use the same architecture as the next-gen Jeep Grand Cherokee.

Source: Detroit Free Press