In the late-1970s, Chrysler was still recovering from its near-bankruptcy and resources were in short supply. Sperlich, who was in charge of Chrysler's product planning in the early 1980s, in which Japanese-inspired compact pickups of the time lacked the size and features necessary to meet the demands of American buyers. The N-body platform was the result of operational efforts by Harold K. To keep investment low, many components were shared with existing Chrysler products and the manufacturing plant was shared with the full-sized Dodge D and W Models. The Dodge Dakota was developed by Chrysler as a mid-sized pickup. The Dakota is the first mid-size pickup with an optional V8 engine. It is a conventional design with body-on-frame construction and a leaf spring/ live axle rear end. The Dakota was sized above the compact Ford Ranger and Chevrolet S-10, but below the full-sized pickups such as Dodge's own Ram. From its introduction through 2011, it was marketed under the Dodge brand. The first Dakota was introduced in late 1986 as a 1987 model. The Dodge Dakota, known as the Ram Dakota for the final two years of production, is a mid-size pickup truck from Chrysler's Ram (formerly Dodge Truck) division. Front engine, rear-wheel drive / four-wheel drive

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