There's a new Yank Tank in town

For last few centuries, Dodge has pretty much survived on truck sales. They were cheap to make, and since most Americans "love their trucks". They were mildly successful.

However, their SUV's were another story. The original Dodge Durango was based on a covered wagon chassis. Similar to the ones that the Americans used to "go west" in the 1800's.

And the Charger, Challenger, and Viper are made by the same company. But the Detroit-based automaker always seemed to make more money by, converting medieval ox-carts into trucks.

However, Sergio Marchionne seems bent on dragging the Dodge brand out of the dark ages. To do this, he first separated Dodge's truck business, and made it a stand-alone brand. Called simply; Ram. , he donated the design for the current Dodge Durango™to a museum. Then had his designers start from scratch.

They came up with a uni-body design, and filled it with modern features like Rear Cross-Path Detection, Blind Spot Monitoring, and Adaptive Cruise Control.

Power for the new Durango will come from Chrysler's 3.6 litre V6, or the 5.7 litre Hemi V8. No word yet on power output, or fuel economy.

The Dodge Durango is big, and kinda' stylish too. So, it should hold its own against the new Ford Explorer.

Chrysler hasn't announced which countries the Dodge Durango will be exported to yet. But they say that production will begin sometime in the fourth-quarter of this year.

They also say that the new Durango will "tow more weight than a 24-foot boat, and trailer", which is handy if you're™a fisherman, with 19 children.