Stellantis has finally confirmed it will indeed produce a mid-sized pickup, which could be called the Ram Dakota and which will compete with the top-selling Ford Ranger, but it won’t enter production until 2027.
According to Automotive News, Stellantis said in a memo that the all-new ute, to be positioned below the full-sized Ram 1500 pickup, will be built at the company’s mothballed Belvidere factory in the US state of Illinois.
The memo didn’t say when that will happen, but the United Auto Workers union said in a statement that production will start sometime in 2027.
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Ram Rampage
Last year UAW members protested against Stellantis for the delay in reopening the Belvidere plant, which was closed in early 2023, when the union said Stellantis had plans to build a mid-sized pickup at the facility.
After long-running disputes with the UAW and the inauguration of new US President Donald Trump, yesterday Stellantis also said it would build the next-generation Dodge Durango at its Detroit factory and invest in its Jeep facilities in Ohio.
“After meeting with the company for the last several months, last night we resolved our grievances concerning the Dodge Durango and the reopening of Belvidere,” said the UAW in a statement.
The news comes little more than a week after returning Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis said he wanted a “mid-size truck so bad”.
Mr Kuniskis, who was Ram’s global chief until he retired last May then returned in December, said the ‘global metric-ton’ pickup the company has talked about for at least five years would be vital for the American truck brand following the axing of the cut-price DS-series Ram 1500 Classic.
“Everything is more expensive. Trucks are way more expensive – bread goes up, you still got to eat, right? Trucks go up, you start looking for alternatives,” he said.
“I used to have a price point alternative with the Ram Classic. I don’t have that anymore.”
Ram 1200
In November, Chris Feuell – the CEO of the Chrysler brand and, from June to December of 2024, Ram – told Motor Trend that the model is still in the works and will be offered globally, saying: “It will be brought to market”.
Ms Feuell said Ram had considered a couple of different platform options before arriving at a decision that she says will surprise.
Whether that means Ram will eschew a traditional ladder-frame construction for monocoque underpinnings like the Ford Maverick or its own Rampage, which was launched in Brazil last year, remains unclear.
Motor Trend says more details will be revealed this year and that multiple powertrains will be available, but a concept version may take time to appear.
Ram teased what appeared to be a Ranger-sized ute with an electric powertrain back in 2021, riding the STLA Large architecture.
In April 2023, then-CEO Mike Koval Jr told CarExpert that the concept received rave reviews at a North American dealer meeting in Las Vegas earlier that year and would almost certainly be sold in Australia.
He also confirmed the model was being developed with international and right-hand drive markets in mind. However, in a press release further detailing the STLA Large platform in 2024, Stellantis made no mention of the Ram brand, though it said the platform could support combustion, hybrid and electric powertrains.
The upcoming Ram ute could instead use the STLA Medium platform, or the STLA Frame platform that underpins the all-electric 1500 REV.
Mid-sized utes are the second most popular vehicle type in Australia, led by the Ranger and Toyota HiLux.
2011 Ram Dakota
Ford offers its Ranger globally, while GM competes in various markets with the Chevrolet Colorado and S10 and GMC Canyon. In the US, this segment is led by the Toyota Tacoma.
But Ram hasn’t offered a vehicle in this segment in the US since it ceased production of the Dakota in 2011, though it has offered models in various overseas markets.
The car-based (monocoque) Rampage dual-cab is sold in Latin American markets with four-cylinder petrol and diesel engines.
Ram parent Stellantis also sells the Changan F70-based, ladder-frame Ram 1200 pickup in other non-Western markets including Mexico, as well as the closely related Peugeot Landtrek in Africa and the Fiat Titano in Europe.
The 1200 nameplate was previously used on a rebadged Mitsubishi Triton.
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