Chrysler LLC’s “mid size” truck for years has been the Dodge Dakota. It has also been the largest offerings in its segments and the first (for a while the only) one with a V8 option. Always the truck to out-do the other small pickups, the Dakota’s future looks quite bleak. According to an article on Autoblog.com, Chrysler sold only 13,000 Dakotas during 2010. Because of this, 2011 will be the last year for the truck.
Approximately 150 hourly positions were responsible for the building and manufacturing of the Dakota. Since Chrysler’s Warren Michigan Plant will no longer be the home for the pickup, the future of those jobs is still up in the air. With the United Auto Workers union backing those positions, there is serious doubt that those men and women would be completely axed. Chrysler seems to be doing fairly well and could use all the help they can get, so the Dakota workers would more than likely find a position at a different operation. Chrysler doesn’t plan to abandon the mid size truck segment either as a new replacement is in the works. Whether or not the new pickup will be as brawny as the Dakota was is an entirely different subject.
Source: Autoblog.com
