Larry
Bigassgas Explorer
Unfortunately, we will all have to get over the fact Power Wagon doesn’t come with a diesel as I just don’t see the Cummins being an option anytime soon. I work in the automotive manufacturing industry and suspect the reason why there is no Cummins option boils down to two main things.
1) Weight. With the heavier Cummins engine and the added weight of the Power Wagon specific components most likely will push the vehicle over it’s out the door weight limit and cut into the Payload, GVWR, and GCWR. This is the same reason at GM, we could not build 1996/2000 K2500 Suburban’s with a 7.4L, tow package and bench seat. All had to have bucket seats to keep the vehicle under the weight limit.
2) Cost. With the 2007 diesel emission changes and added cost, plus the new 2010 diesel emissions requirements quickly approaching the cost of diesel engines have grown to the point they are hard to justify unless you run 100,000 miles per year or your towing duty cycle is at least 80%. Add the current $6,100 premium for the Cummins to the MSRP of the already pricy Power Wagon and the truck will be out of reality. There is industry speculation that the 2010 diesel powered pickups will see at least a 10 to 15% engine price increase due to new 2010 emissions components. By 2010 you could see a Dodge Ram diesel fetch over a $7000 premium over a gasoline engine. Add the $7000 Cummins premium to the current Power Wagon premium of $45,000 and you wind up with a $52,000 niche market pickup truck. That is a hard business case to battle with.
If I were at Dodge, the suggestion I would make to the marketing clowns would be to decontent the truck which would also take weight and cost out of the package and might justify the Cummins for those that have to have it. By decontenting the truck, I mean remove the power windows, carpet, do away with the leather trim option, back up assist system, etc. The Power Wagon should be a true off-roader not a mall crawler full of soft palm flitboy gizmos that don’t do anything but drive up cost of the package. In my opinion the Power Wagon should only be available in ST trim level and then those that whine about the lack of a Cummins might be able to get one.
Weight and cost dictate a lot of what is built when it comes to trucks which is why there wasn’t a K2500 Suburban built with a Duramax/Allison combo. The package weight and cost were just too high although that combo would have been a RV'ers dream for pulling travel trailers.
1) Weight. With the heavier Cummins engine and the added weight of the Power Wagon specific components most likely will push the vehicle over it’s out the door weight limit and cut into the Payload, GVWR, and GCWR. This is the same reason at GM, we could not build 1996/2000 K2500 Suburban’s with a 7.4L, tow package and bench seat. All had to have bucket seats to keep the vehicle under the weight limit.
2) Cost. With the 2007 diesel emission changes and added cost, plus the new 2010 diesel emissions requirements quickly approaching the cost of diesel engines have grown to the point they are hard to justify unless you run 100,000 miles per year or your towing duty cycle is at least 80%. Add the current $6,100 premium for the Cummins to the MSRP of the already pricy Power Wagon and the truck will be out of reality. There is industry speculation that the 2010 diesel powered pickups will see at least a 10 to 15% engine price increase due to new 2010 emissions components. By 2010 you could see a Dodge Ram diesel fetch over a $7000 premium over a gasoline engine. Add the $7000 Cummins premium to the current Power Wagon premium of $45,000 and you wind up with a $52,000 niche market pickup truck. That is a hard business case to battle with.
If I were at Dodge, the suggestion I would make to the marketing clowns would be to decontent the truck which would also take weight and cost out of the package and might justify the Cummins for those that have to have it. By decontenting the truck, I mean remove the power windows, carpet, do away with the leather trim option, back up assist system, etc. The Power Wagon should be a true off-roader not a mall crawler full of soft palm flitboy gizmos that don’t do anything but drive up cost of the package. In my opinion the Power Wagon should only be available in ST trim level and then those that whine about the lack of a Cummins might be able to get one.
Weight and cost dictate a lot of what is built when it comes to trucks which is why there wasn’t a K2500 Suburban built with a Duramax/Allison combo. The package weight and cost were just too high although that combo would have been a RV'ers dream for pulling travel trailers.
