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Is Bob Hegbloom the Happiest Guy in Detroit?

Ram Trucks as a stand-alone brand was established in 2010.
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Ram Trucks as a stand-alone brand was established in 2010.

In 2010 Bob Hegbloom as the director of Truck, Commercial and SUV product planning at Chrysler, then director for Truck, Large SUV and Commercial Vehicle marketing. In 2011, Hegbloom was named director of Ram Brand Product Marketing.

Then in 2014, Hegbloom was named president and CEO of Ram.

And this guy, who has a tremendous background in trucks, is in a great situation.

Hegbloom

Hegbloom after August 2014 sales

December 2014 Ram sales were up 32% over December 2013. December 2014 was the 56th consecutive month of year-over-year sales gains for Ram. Nearly five years running.

What’s more, overall, for 2014 Ram annual sales increased 28%. That’s the best full-year sales since 2005. And when it comes to its pickups, it was the best annual sales since 2003.

In addition to which, Hegbloom’s operation has the most fuel-efficient pickup truck in its lineup, the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, which, with its 3.0-liter, 240-hp, 420 lb-ft of torque V6, returns 28 mpg. This has proven to be so popular in its lineup that the company has decided to double its original production output, so that the diesel version of the light-duty pickup will be about 20% of the overall sales mix.

Hegbloom talks about the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel, the importance of product, how Ram has managed to grow its share of the market in a category (truck) where there is tremendous brand loyalty. . .and the newest product in the Ram lineup, the ProMaster City, on this edition of “Autoline After Hours.”

2015 Ram ProMaster City Tradesman SLT

ProMaster City

In addition to which, host John McElroy, just back from CES, and Seyth Miersma of Autoblog, just back from driving the 2015 Corvette Z06, and I (just back from. . .nowhere) discuss autonomous vehicles, the implications of Mercedes announced U.S. HQ move from the greater New York City metro area (it’s in Montvale, NJ, right now) in light of Cadillac’s announced move to New York City, and much more.

Check it out:

 

 

IceRocket Tags: Ram ProMaster City,Ram,Ram 1500 EcoDiesel,John McElroy,Seyth Miersma,Autoline After Hours,Corvette Z06,CES,Mercedes,Cadillac,autonomous vehicles,Autoblog

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