Ram looking to take on Ford Ranger, Toyota HiLux directly with ladder-frame dual-cab ute – report

Ram is set to introduce a new pickup truck in 2027 to slot in under its full-size 1500, sized similarly to Australia’s top-selling Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux.

Technically, it already has one – the Ram Rampage (pictured) sold in Latin America – but unlike that car-based unibody dual-cab, Mopar Insiders reports this upcoming ute will feature body-on-frame construction like all of this country’s most popular utes.

It’ll also reportedly be offered exclusively in dual-cab guise.

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The as-yet unnamed smaller Ram – a belated replacement for the Dakota, which was axed in 2011 – will enter production at Stellantis’ Belvidere plant in the US state of Illinois in 2027.

It’ll not only give Ram a direct rival to the Ranger, but also serve as a replacement for the discontinued DS-series Ram 1500 that was previously positioned under the newer DT-series 1500 as the entry point to the commercial vehicle brand’s pickup lineup.

Parent company Stellantis previously previewed a unibody pickup for the Ram range in wireframe (pictured below) back in 2021, based on the same STLA Large platform as the new Dodge Charger.

However, there’s been radio silence on this vehicle ever since, and subsequent STLA Large announcements haven’t included the Ram brand.

Ram subsequently revealed the Brazilian-built and developed Rampage in 2023, closely related to the outgoing Jeep Compass, and this model subsequently appeared in a US design patent this year suggesting it could be offered outside of Latin America.

But this latest report indicates Ram wants to take on the Ranger more directly in the US market instead of monocoque chassis-based ‘lifestyle’ utes like the Ford Maverick, and the brand’s Australian arm has expressed enthusiasm in this upcoming pickup should it be green-lit and if the local business case stacks up.

Ram has talked about a global mid-size pickup for at least five years, with the brand’s former CEO Mike Koval Jr telling CarExpertin April 2023 that such a vehicle would almost certainly be produced in right-hand drive (RHD) for international markets including Australia, where Stellantis already sells the Jeep Gladiator dual-cab.

And when he toured the Walkinshaw Automotive facility that converts Ram trucks to RHD for Australia just prior to that, Ram Trucks International chief Bob Graczyk indicated the ‘Dakota’ would become available in Australia whether it was remanufactured here or not.

Subsequent Ram CEO Chris Feuell said late in 2024 that the ute was still coming to market, and that Ram had weighed a couple of different platform options before landing on a “surprising” decision.

In January this year, Ram’s global CEO Tim Kuniskis, who retired last May then returned in December, said he wanted a “mid-size truck so bad” and that it would be vital for the American truck brand.

Mr Kuniskis announced in April he had plans to make 25 global product announcements within the next 18 months, starting in early June.

One of the first of these announcements was the confirmed return of the Hemi V8 to the Ram 1500 lineup.

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