I heard a new one from my tranny repairman. He is suppose to be really up on Fords. He said that Ford recently bought out Cummins. Is this true? He also said that Dodge has 4 years to find another motor. Just wondering
In some ways it seems like a smart move...the best way to deal with your competition is to buy them out. But in other ways it doesn't seem wise...why waste all that money you've spent developing the PSD when you're not going to be using that particular motor anymore?
I also question whether or not Ford has that kind of cash lying around. I don't imagine Cummins Inc would come with a cheap price tag. They had sales of 6.3 billion in 2003 and its a publicly traded company, meaning Ford would have to pay market-value for all the outstanding shares, which are 52.5 as of today.
There's nothing on the Cummins website about a buy-out and nothing on Ford's site either. I could see Ford buying the rights to use Cummins in the Superduties, but I can't imagine Dodge just giving up the rights without some sort of very public 'bidding war' between the two.
The contract with Cummins was recently extended past the original contract that was until 2007, so Dodge will probably have the Cummins for a while longer. If Dodge does start using Mercedes diesels, I would not mind too much. Mercedes makes good engines. A neighbor has a Unimog and it has been pretty reliable. He uses it to trailer hay as well as pull farm machinery.
Mercedes is pretty big over sea's with there diesels. Could there diesel out preform a PSD or Cummins. Maybe. But i dont know i am not a fan of the cummins but would this be a good move?
It is hard to say if it would be a good move or not. The Mercedes would probably be a great motor, but on the other hand, the Cummins has the best reputation of any diesel in a pickup and people buy because of that. If Dodge does begin using the MB, we will find out if it is a good plan or not.
He's right. Dodge is #2 in 2500/3500 series truck sales because of one word: Cummins. It's a legendary and "true" inline diesel design, and people who know trucks are buying them like crazy because it's in an elite group of it's own.
If Dodge allows the Cummins option for their trucks to disappear, I think you can kiss their trucks goodbye because they won't sell any trucks at all then. They MUST hang on to the Cummins engine to remain competitive where they are IMHO.
superrangerman2002 I agree with you there if that cummins is gone. Kiss dodge goodbye. It could be the end odf Dodge period.
That company could go bankrupt. Dont kid yourself that Hemi wont do it for them. It is that cummins. Just my thoughts Thanks
I'm not much on diesels, but at one time didn't one of the auto kings use CAT engines? I don't really think Ford would have to buy the rights to use Cummins to sell more trucks.
I am no fan of the cummins and were i live there are only psd used very few cummins or duramax diesel around. Maybe getting rid of cummins would be a good move for dodge to get more customers into the diesel crowd. One thing is for sure i would never buy any type of dodge even if it had a cat under the hood which it never will and i hate them cummins too bad problems with them.
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The Kidd
Last edited by The Kidd F-250; 03-05-2004 at 02:15 PM.
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