Dodge began making its own complete vehicles in 1914. The brand was sold to Chrysler Corporation in 1928, passed through the short-lived DaimlerChrysler merger of 1998?2007 as part of the Chrysler Group, was a part of Chrysler LLC owned by Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity investment firm, and is now a part of the Chrysler Group LLC which has an alliance with Fiat. Fiat has plans to eliminate some Dodge, Chrysler, and Jeep existing vehicles in favor of Fiat-Chrysler co-developed vehicles.

To fit better in the Chrysler Corporation lineup, alongside low-priced Plymouth and medium-priced DeSoto, Dodge's lineup for early 1930 was trimmed down to a core group of two lines and thirteen models. Another major restyle arrived for the 25th anniversary 1939 models, which Dodge dubbed the Luxury Liner series. These were once again completely redesigned with new bodies for 1940, again in 1941, and a refreshing for 1942. However, just after the 1942 models were introduced, Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor forced the shutdown of Dodge's passenger car assembly lines in favor of war production in February 1942. Civilian production at Dodge was restarted by late 1945, in time for the 1946 model year.     

Finding IA Dodge

Used Over the years, Dodge has become at least as well-known for its many truck models as for its prodigious passenger car output. In 2009, the brand's most popular vehicle, the Dodge Ram, was spun off into the Ram brand. For consumers shopping in the used pickup truck market, a great consideration is the Dodge Ram. More recent preowned Ram's offer an alternative to hard-as-nails leaf springs in the rear suspension in favor of relatively plush coil springs. The Doge Ram 1500 has the power, ride and styling to be the most versatile half-ton on the road. The Dodge Ram 1500 was redesigned for the 2009 model year. The pickup truck is available in five trim levels, beginning with the ST and moving through SLT, TRX, Sport and finally to the top-line Laramie. Three cab configurations and three bed lengths are also offered.

The pickup can be had in either a two-wheel or four-wheel-drive setup. The previous-generation Dodge Ram 1500 pickup was produced for 2002 through 2008. The second-generation Dodge Ram 1500 debuted for 1994 and marked the turning point for Dodge's full-size pickup truck. There were a number of important features that debuted, such as a standard driver side airbag, available four-wheel antilock brakes and a center console box big enough to hold a laptop computer. The Dodge Challenger was reintroduced in 2008 as a modern muscle car. It was originally only available as an SRT8 model. The muscle car has seen a revival in recent years with the retro-ization of the Mustang and the resuscitation of the Camaro, but the Challenger certainly holds its own, particularly if style is more important than driving dynamics.