Francais | English | Espanõl

Dodge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Jump to: navigation, search
For other uses of the word, see Dodge (disambiguation).
Image:DODGELOGO.png

Dodge is a brand name of automobiles and light to heavy-duty trucks. From 1914 to 1927, the company was named the Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company. The Chrysler Corporation acquired the Dodge company in 1928. In 1998, Dodge, along with all other Chrysler subsidiaries merged with Daimler-Benz.

Contents

[edit] History

In 1901, John Francis Dodge and Horace Elgin Dodge moved their Dodge Brothers Bicycle & Machine Factory to Detroit, Michigan. Their bearings and other parts were in demand with the early automobile industry, and they helped design motor parts for early Oldsmobiles.

Image:1917 Dodge Touring Car.jpg

In 1902, the Dodge Brothers were approached by Henry Ford, who was looking for help in financing his own automobile company. Dodge Brothers helped finance the start of the Ford Motor Company as well as manufacturing parts for early Fords, to Ford and the Dodge Brothers mutual financial benefit.

In 1914, the Dodge Brothers started their own auto company, which they named the Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company, choosing 50 dealers initially from hundreds of applications, some of which remain successful today. In a boost to their fortunes, the Dodge brothers brought a successful lawsuit against Ford in 1917. In the same year, Dodge Brothers began building motor trucks as well, at first for use by the United States Army during World War I, then commercially after the war's end.
Dodge Brothers 4-Door Sedan, from a 1920 magazine advertisement.

In 1925, the Dodge Brothers Company was purchased by Dillon, Read & Company for US$148 million, said to be the largest cash transaction in history up to that time. Dillon Read in turn sold Dodge to the Chrysler Corporation on July 31, 1928.

Following Chrysler's takeover of the British Rootes Group, Simca of France and Barreiros of Spain, and the resultant establishment of Chrysler Europe in the late 1960s, the Dodge brand was used on light commercial vehicles, most of which were previously branded Commer or Karrier (Rootes subsidiaries), on pick-up and van versions of the Simca 1100, and on heavy trucks built in Spain. The most common of these was the Dodge 50 series, widely used by utility companies and the military, but rarely seen outside the UK. The "Fratzog," the Dodge logo from 1962-76 Following Chrysler Europe's collapse in 1977, and the sale of their assets to Peugeot, the Dodge British and Spanish factories were quickly passed on to Renault Véhicules Industriels, who gradually re-branded to Renault the range of vans and trucks through the 1980s, eventually dropping the products altogether and using the plants to produce engines in the UK and some real Renault truck models in Spain. Dodge would not return to the UK until the introduction of the Dodge Neon SRT-4, branded as a Chrysler Neon, in the mid 1990s.

Dodge is now part of DaimlerChrysler AG, based in Stuttgart. As of 2005, the Dodge brand has become known primarily for its trucks, which account for 78% of the division's sales. Dodge is attempting to change this with the introduction of the new Dodge Charger and the forthcoming Dodge Challenger.

The Dodge marque will also be promoted in Europe. Currently, the Dodge Viper GST and the Dodge Caliber are the only Dodge-branded vehicles in that market, but DaimlerChrysler will begin to heavily advertise the brand's Dodge Nitro model with a image.

Dodge recently re-entered the Australian market in 2006 after a 30 year absence. Dodge Australia plans to release a new model every six months for the next three years, amid plans to re-ignite the brand's interest down under. The first of such models is the Dodge Caliber, which was well received at the recent 2006 Melbourne Motor Show.

[edit] Logos

  • Fratzog: 1962-1976
  • Pentastar: 1976-1997
  • Ram: (exclusively on trucks between 1971 and 1792); on all Dodge vehicles since 1993.
  • Many Dodge trucks had a cast aluminum ram head mounted on the hood, during the mid-eighties theft of these exceeded the Mercedes-Benz

[edit] North American model lineup

Image:Ramlogo.jpg

[edit] Military trucks

T202 — ½ ton, 4x4 series truck (G-505)

T203 — ½ ton, 4x4 series truck

T207 — ½ ton, 4x4 series truck (G-505)

T211 — ½ ton, 4x4 series truck (G-505)

Image:Dodge T214-WC54.jpg T214 — ¾ ton, 4x4 series truck (G-502)

T215 — ½ ton, 4x4 series truck (G-505)

T223 — 1½ ton, 6x6 series truck

T236 — ¾ ton, 4x4 series truck (Canadian built)

M-37 — ¾ ton, 4x4 series truck (G-741)

T137 — 1 ton, 4x4 series truck

M-880 — 1¼ ton, 4x4 series truck

4x2 variants:

[edit] European models

[edit] Dodge concept vehicles

The Dodge Copperhead concept

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Dodge road car timeline, North American market, 1970s-present - [edit]
Type 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
0123456789 0123456789 0123456789 0123456789
Subcompact Omni
Colt
Charger
Compact Colt 400 Shadow Neon Caliber
Aspen Aries
Mid-size Magnum Mirada 600 Spirit Stratus Avenger (JS)
Diplomat Dynasty
Full-size Monaco St. Regis Monaco Intrepid Magnum
Polara Charger
Dart
Coronet
Sports Charger Daytona Avenger Stratus
Challenger Challenger Conquest Stealth SRT-4 Challenger
Super Bee Viper
SUV Ramcharger Durango
Raider Nitro
Pickup Rampage Dakota
D Series Ram
Ram SRT-10
Minivan Caravan/Grand Caravan
Van Ram Van/Ram Wagon Sprinter
Members and holdings of DaimlerChrysler :
Chrysler Group: Chrysler | Dodge | Jeep
Defunct Marques: Barreiros (1959-1978) | Commer (1905-1979) | DeSoto (1928-1961) | Eagle (1988-1998) | Fargo (1920-1972) | Hillman (1907-1976) | Humber (1898-1975) | Imperial (1955-1975, 1981-1983)  | Karrier (1908-1977) | Plymouth (1928-2001) | Simca (1934-1977) | Sunbeam (1901-1976) | Singer (1905-1970) | Valiant (1960-1966)
Mercedes Car Group: Global Electric Motorcars (GEM) | Maybach | Mercedes-Benz | Mercedes-AMG | Smart
Commercial Vehicle Brands: Freightliner | Mercedes-Benz | Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus | OriOn | Setra | Sterling Trucks | Thomas Built Buses | Western Star
Participations in: EADS (30.17%) | Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus (85%) | Freightliner | McLaren Group (40%)
de:Dodge

fr:Dodge hr:Dodge it:Dodge nl:Dodge ja:ダッジ no:Dodge pl:Dodge pt:Dodge ru:Додж fi:Dodge sv:Dodge tr:Dodge

Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Dodge"
Personal tools