2019 RAM woos new HD buyers

LAS VEGAS — Ram knows it has a solid base of hardworking farmers and construction laborers who buy its heavy- duty trucks.

But in a quest to shake up the ranks of pickup brands, Ram is using its redesigned truck to present a fresh profile of who a heavy-duty buyer can be.

This was evident in one of the Ram Heavy Duty digital ads Fiat Chrysler Automobiles released before the Super Bowl. The ad showed rams charging from Los Angeles to Atlanta before being stopped in their tracks by a new 2019 Ram HD.

The camera then zoomed in on the truck's passengers, who turned out to be not ranchers or construction workers, but a group of mild-mannered sports fans, dressed in Los Angeles Rams colors, preparing for a heavy-duty tailgate celebration with trailer in tow. The video has drawn nearly 8 million views on YouTube.

"It just goes to talk about the overall breadth of people who are attracted to the Ram brand," Jim Morrison, Ram's North America head, told Automotive News during a media drive here. "We love our farmers and the connection to our farmers. We love the construction guys."

But the pickup segment, and Ram buyers, "have grown beyond the traditional users," he said.

Around a third of heavy-duty buyers want a work truck, Morrison says, while another third want a vehicle to haul items such as luxury RVs and horse trailers. Then there's a contingent that wants both, for handling work during the week before a family excursion on the weekend.

And a few others, he said, just want a big, stylish truck.

Ram's goal? Reach them all.

So Ram is bringing more technology, natural wood and leather to the interiors as it ups performance under the hood, with the 1,000 pound-feet of torque generated by the new 6.7-liter Cummins turbodiesel engine.

"It's like a luxury car. You attract a whole different" customer, said Doug Wilson, who owns a Ram dealership in Collierville, Tenn. "Instead of having a Mercedes S class, you've got a 2500 diesel. It's a very versatile vehicle and gives you the capability of doing anything."

Wilson said some heavy-duty buyers haul loads only occasionally. Others might be business owners who want weekend cruisers.Don Lee, a Ram dealer in Maine, said he knows such people.

"I have a good friend that owns a landscape company that hauls a lot of equipment in the summer and plows in the winter," said Lee. "He's the type of person that would buy one of these, because he likes to drive his vehicle on the weekend.

"When he's home on weekends, he'll take his wife's Mercedes and they drive that on the weekend."

The luxury enhancements didn't happen overnight. Ram tested plusher interiors in its heavy-duty line over the years with its Limited trim and the Tungsten edition, which drew positive consumer reactions and assured the brand that it was going in the right direction.

The luxury push will make the Ram HD more competitive among high-end retail buyers against General Motors' swankiest pickup, the GMC Sierra HD Denali, and the Limited editions of Ford's Super Duty trucks, although Ram's available 12-inch touch screen sets it apart visually as a luxury contender.

It could also make it more inviting for Ram's light-duty truck owners to move up as their hauling needs grow. Those Ram 1500 owners have become accustomed to more upscale interiors.

The truck is "growing as the family RV grows. The same thing with the smaller horse trailers," Morrison said. "I was towing my horse trailer with Jeeps and Ram 1500s, and then I ended up getting a bigger trailer and the need for the heavy duty came in."

Meanwhile, the design team had to create HD trucks that exude luxury as well as job site capability.

The starkest difference for the 2019 models is the more imposing grille, which is 30 percent larger than on the outgoing trucks. The larger grille was needed for the cooling requirements that come with a 35,100-pound towing capacity, said Mike Gillam, Ram's exterior design manager. He called the towing prowess "a landmark that sets up everything else" with the design.

For style hunters, the heavy-duty Rams offer updated sport and blacked-out appearance packages — and Gillam said more options could appear down the line that cater to the wide spectrum of truck buyers.

Said Morrison: "They're badass looking trucks."