| | The 2012 Dakota is coming back as a "lifestyle truck." Expectations are that the newly redesigned Dakota will more closely resemble the earlier model in size but the cargo area and towing capacity will both be lessened considerably. This switch from a body-on-frame design to a unibody truck comes from Dodge's belief that small truck owners don't expect extraordinary power from the Dakota. They just want to own a small truck that can haul light loads and act like a truck, without being too big or too hard to drive. The new Dakota will handle like a car, be thrifty on gas and appeal to the casual truck user. This would make the Dakota more city-friendly, in keeping with the 2006 Dodge Rampage concept. The new Dakota will be built at the minivan assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario. With DCT transmission and the new Pentastar V6, the new Dakota could leap-frog over competition like the Honda Ridgeline. Though the new Dakota will not remind many of the old Dakota, Dodge claims it will be its "spiritual successor." Standard features on the new 2012 Dodge Dakota include an entertainment package with a 276 watt AM/FM radio, six-disc CD changer, six Alpine speakers, steering wheel mounted controls, an MP3 player and Sirius satellite radio. Also standard are dual front map lights, a tilt steering column, power rack and pinion steering, air conditioning, reclining front split-bench leather seats, rear split folding-bench leather seats and a universal garage door opener. |
