Ram truck captures youth vote

David Freed just traded in his 2018 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 LTZ for a 2020 Ram 1500 Laramie with a blacked-out grille.

The 33-year-old Houston advertising executive doesn't see himself going back. Freed said Chevy lost him with its latest redesign of the Silverado.

Now Ram has a chance to win Freed — who was drawn by the pickup's design, features and ride — as a customer for life.

The Ram "caught my eye for a whole year before I bought it," Freed told Automotive News. "I'd be driving down the road, see a good-looking truck, and it was pretty much the Ram every time."

Freed is part of a youth movement that is helping fuel the brand's sales surge while laying the building blocks for consumer loyalty that could carry Ram for years to come.

Edmunds, in a report last month on the pickup market, said Ram has increased sales by "winning over the most coveted section of the market: people under 35." Ram led the industry — not just pickups — with registrations for this age group.

Ram leapfrogged the Ford F-Series with 43,282 new vehicles registered to people under 35 in 2019, a 10 percent gain from 2018, according to IHS Markit. Ford's under-35 tally last year was 40,968, down 14 percent.

Mike Koval Jr., who was named Ram's interim head for North America this month, credits the brand's success to its three-truck strategy, which allows it "to be a little bit of everything to everybody."

Ram is selling its redesigned light- and heavy-duty models alongside the more economical 1500 Classic, the previous-generation truck, to broaden the brand's reach as an entry-level option.

But it's not just letting the older version age gracelessly.

Classic buyers had 46 configurations to choose from for the 2019 model year, Edmunds said, and Ram has continued to add appearance packages, including a Warlock Mojave Sand Edition with black 20-inch rims that went on sale last fall.

That strategy allowed Ram's pickup to outsell the Silverado among all U.S. buyers in 2019, making it the industry's No. 2 nameplate for the first time.

Steven Wolf, dealer principal at Helfman Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram- Fiat in Houston, said the Classic has attracted subprime as well as commercial buyers.

But there's likely an "expiration date" on how long the Classic strategy will work as the technology offered on it ages, said Jennifer Newman, editor in chief of Cars.com.

Edmunds said the lower price point of the Classic has appealed to many younger buyers who can't spend $50,000 on a truck. The average transaction price of a Ram Classic was $39,121 last year, according to Edmunds, compared with $48,753 for the newer version.

Ram Classic buyers, on average, pay the highest interest rates in the segment and roll more negative equity into their loans than buyers of any other full-size pickup, Edmunds said.

"I think having more options at different price points worked well for them, particularly because they have a flagship product to be the halo truck and then everything else slotted underneath," said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights for Edmunds.

Ram doesn't offer a midsize pickup, so the Classic effectively is filling that space, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecasting for AutoForecast Solutions. The Classic is a "premium alternative to the Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma, appealing to younger buyers on size and price," he said.

"Full-sized pickup buyers, and especially Ram buyers, are loyal to their brand," Fiorani said in an email, "so buyers of the 1500 Classic are likely to move up to the more expensive Ram 1500 when they buy their next truck."

The Classic is just one piece of Ram's success with younger consumers, Koval said.

He said the brand has appealed to the younger crowd with a mix of value, style, interior amenities and technology.

Every incremental customer the brand captures could help position it for success in the future. The Ram 1500 has had the highest loyalty among light-duty trucks for three years, according to IHS Markit.

An old saying of outgoing Ram boss Reid Bigland was "value never goes out of style," Koval said. "But then, as you progress up through the middle and the heart of the market itself to the premium, it's really that technology and that innovation, I think, that's really resonating with the younger buyer. More people than ever before are coming into Ram because of it."

Freed, who ordered a Laramie 4x4, doesn't plan to do much hauling with his new truck. The stylishness was a major selling point for him, and he said the interior is on par with luxury brands such as BMW. Yet Freed opted for the standard 8.4-inch infotainment screen, saying the massive 12-inch command center Ram offers was "not for me."

The truck has won his loyalty to the brand, "as long as they don't make any wild changes and still offer the 8-inch screen," Freed said. "As long as I can get what I want, then I think I'm probably going to stay in the Ram family."