Fargo was a
brand
A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...
of
truck
A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame construction ...
s originally produced in the United States in 1913 by the Fargo Motor Car Company. Dropped in 1922, the name was reintroduced for a line of trucks manufactured by the
Chrysler Corporation
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
after purchasing Fargo Motors in 1928. Later, Chrysler absorbed
Dodge
Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...
and started producing its truck line, so over time, Fargo trucks became
rebadged
In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a man ...
Dodges, similar to the parallel sale by General Motors of its
GMC and
Chevrolet
Chevrolet ( ), colloquially referred to as Chevy and formally the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors Company, is an American automobile division of the American manufacturer General Motors (GM). Louis Chevrolet (1878–1941) and ous ...
truck lines.
The modern-day descendant of Chrysler's truck division is now known as
Ram Trucks
Ram Trucks, stylized as RAM and formerly known as the Ram Truck Division (of Chrysler), is an American brand of light to mid-weight trucks and other commercial vehicles, and a division of Stellantis (previously Fiat Chrysler Automobiles). It was ...
.
History
The first Fargo trucks were built in
Pilsen, Chicago
Lower West Side is a community area on the West Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. It is three miles southwest of the Chicago Loop and its main neighborhood is Pilsen (). The Heart of Chicago is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of ...
, by the Fargo Motor Car Company from 1913 until 1922. In 1928, Chrysler bought the business and created their own line of Fargo trucks.
Shortly after its creation, Chrysler also bought the
Dodge Brothers Company
Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above Plym ...
, adding Dodge- and
Graham Brothers
Graham-Paige was an American automobile manufacturer founded by brothers Joseph B. Graham (1882-1970), Robert C. Graham (1885-1967), and Ray A. Graham (1887-1932) in 1927. Automobile production ceased in 1940, and its automotive assets were acq ...
-badged trucks to its product line. From then on, Fargo trucks were almost identical to Dodge models, save for trim and name, and were sold by Chrysler-Plymouth dealers.
U.S. sales of Fargo trucks were discontinued in the 1930s and replaced in the US by Plymouth-badged trucks in 1937, In
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, the name Fargo was used until 1972 for marketing reasons to differentiate the trucks as Chrysler-Plymouth dealer offerings apart from the Dodge trucks sold at Dodge dealers.
Chrysler's badge engineering
The Fargo brand lived longer in a variety of countries under the Chrysler Corporation's
badge engineering
In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a manu ...
marketing approach.
Manufactured in Detroit at the
Lynch Road facility, Dodge trucks were also offered under the Fargo (or
De Soto De Soto commonly refers to
* Hernando de Soto (c. 1495 – 1542), Spanish explorer
* DeSoto (automobile), an American automobile brand from 1928 to 1961
De Soto, DeSoto, Desoto, or de Soto may also refer to:
Places in the United States of Ameri ...
) names in most of
Latin America
Latin America or
* french: Amérique Latine, link=no
* ht, Amerik Latin, link=no
* pt, América Latina, link=no, name=a, sometimes referred to as LatAm is a large cultural region in the Americas where Romance languages — languages derived f ...
, while in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
and
Asia
Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...
, they were mainly built in Chrysler's
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
(
UK) plant and sold under either the Fargo or DeSoto badge names.
In
Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
, the make Fargo was used for the pick up D-100 and the D-400, and DP-400 diesel truck from 1960 to 1967.
In Australia, both American and British Dodge models, along with locally assembled units, were marketed by
Chrysler Australia
Fiat Chrysler Australia, officially FCA Australia, is the official Stellantis subsidiary in that country, operating as distributor of Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Abarth, Alfa Romeo and Fiat vehicles. However, there had previously been a "Chrysler Au ...
with Dodge, Fargo, or De Soto badges.
Additionally, heavy trucks made in Spain by
Barreiros, Chrysler's Spanish subsidiary, including a 38-tonne tractor and rigid four-, six- and eight-wheelers, which were sold in the UK as the
Dodge 300
The Dodge 300 was a medium- to heavy-duty cab over truck built by Dodge's British arm at their Kew plant from 1957 until the mid-sixties. It was replaced by the Ghia-designed Dodge 500 which appeared in late 1964. Following the retirement of the ...
Series, were exported to several countries as Fargo vehicles.
Use of the Fargo trademark came to an end in the US when Dodge pulled out of the American heavy truck business in 1976, and finally in 1978, when
Chrysler Europe
Chrysler Europe was the American automotive company Chrysler's operations in Europe from 1967 through 1978. It was formed from the merger of the French Simca, British Rootes and Spanish Barreiros companies. In 1978, Chrysler divested these ...
was sold to
PSA Peugeot Citroën
The PSA Group (), legally known as Peugeot S.A. (Peugeot Société Anonyme, trading as Groupe PSA; formerly known as PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French multinational automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles ...
.
In Turkey
The Fargo brand existed in
Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
for years, and well into the 21st century, because Fargo and De Soto light and heavy trucks were made by Turkish manufacturer
Askam, with no technical or business connection with Chrysler in its final years.
However, Askam was the descendant of Chrysler Kamyon Montaj Fabrikası, founded in
Istanbul
Istanbul ( , ; tr, İstanbul ), formerly known as Constantinople ( grc-gre, Κωνσταντινούπολις; la, Constantinopolis), is the List of largest cities and towns in Turkey, largest city in Turkey, serving as the country's economic, ...
in 1964. Askam went out of business in 2015, meaning that the
LDV Maxus
The LDV Maxus is a light commercial van model, originally produced by LDV Limited. It was launched at the end of 2004. The model was jointly developed under the LD100 programme code by LDV and Daewoo Motor, prior to Daewoo entering receivershi ...
van was the last Fargo-badged (as the "Fargo Fora") vehicle offered in the world.
File:'56 Fargo (Orange Julep).JPG, A 1956 Fargo pickup
File:Fargo Van.JPG, Fargo- badged version of the Dodge A100
The A100 is a range of compact vans and trucks manufactured and marketed from 1964 to 1970 by Chrysler Corporation under the Dodge marque in the United States and the Fargo marque in Canada.
The A100 competed with the Ford Econoline and Chevr ...
van
File:Fargo Fire Truck (Byward Auto Classic).jpg, Fargo pumper fire truck from Témiscaming, Quebec
File:Fargo Fire Truck 02 Russia.jpg, Fargo fire truck in Saint Petersburg
Saint Petersburg ( rus, links=no, Санкт-Петербург, a=Ru-Sankt Peterburg Leningrad Petrograd Piter.ogg, r=Sankt-Peterburg, p=ˈsankt pʲɪtʲɪrˈburk), formerly known as Petrograd (1914–1924) and later Leningrad (1924–1991), i ...
, Russia
Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...
See also
*
Dodge A100
The A100 is a range of compact vans and trucks manufactured and marketed from 1964 to 1970 by Chrysler Corporation under the Dodge marque in the United States and the Fargo marque in Canada.
The A100 competed with the Ford Econoline and Chevr ...
, which was marketed in Canada as a Fargo
*
DeSoto (automobile)#DeSoto trucks, a rebadging of the Fargo trucks
*
Dodge Ram
The Ram pickup (marketed as the Dodge Ram until 2010) is a full-size pickup truck manufactured by Stellantis North America (formerly Chrysler Group LLC and FCA US LLC) and marketed from 2010 onwards under the Ram Trucks brand. The current fi ...
References
External links
Fargo trucks, a brief historyAustralian Vehicles, Misc.
{{Chrysler Holding LLC
Motor vehicle manufacturers of the United States
Motor vehicles manufactured in Turkey
Truck manufacturers of Canada
Chrysler
Truck manufacturers of the United Kingdom
Truck manufacturers of the United States
Truck manufacturers of Turkey
Motor vehicle manufacturers of England