Report: Ram’s Small Truck Won’t Wimp Out With a Unibody (Plus Arrival Timing Confirmed)
More details are emerging on the small, sub-$40,000 midsize pickup truck Ram wants—and needs.
Since the demise of the Dakota, rumors have persisted that Ram was exploring a new midsize pickup truck for North America. Things started to heat up around 2023 when the United Auto Workers made a tentative labor agreement with Stellantis—the parent company of Ram—that included a few details on a possible new midsize truck. Designs were presented to dealers, and it seemed to be a hit with them. But there was one detail that wasn’t certain: Will this Dakota replacement or revival use a unibody like the Honda Ridgeline or a body-on-frame architecture like the Toyota Tacoma and GM’s trucks? A new rumor is pointing in one direction over the other: If what Mopar Insiders has to say is correct, the new midsizer wlll be body on frame.
While most of the early rumors centered around Stellantis saying a Ram midsize pickup could use the STLA Large platform—a unibody design—it appears customer demand may have turned the tide. (It also means our rendering below isn’t quite right; imagine a gap between the bed and the cab and it’s closer.) The news from Mopar Insiders reiterates that the new pickup will be built at the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois starting in 2027, which is among the details revealed by the 2023 labor agreement between the UAW and Stellantis. That means it likely will go on sale as a 2028 model, although a late-arriving 2027 remains a possibility.
For the truck to be successful, it will have to hew closely to the pricing of key competitors from Ford and General Motors; we figure that means a range of roughly $35,000 to $50,000, depending on trims and if Ram introduces specialty models.
When MotorTrend contacted Ram for comment, the brand wouldn’t speak to any hard details but a spokesperson did confirm that “the new Ram midsize truck will launch in 2027 and be built at the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois.” Now all we need to know is the name—and whether there will be a convertible.
