Since Ram said it was making a new small pickup truck for South America, rumours exist that it will also be sold in the United States. This week, the company introduced the Ram Rampage. It got its name from the Dodge Rampage, another unibody truck in the US in the 1980s. The Ram Rampage’s shape was inspired by 1500, so it fits into the domestic range. The Drive has heard from a reliable person who knows much about Stellantis’ plans that the Ram Rampage will be available in the United States. It will be shown off later this year. The person who gave the information said that one of the Ram Rampage prototypes, shown below, was seen moving in Colorado today. True, automakers often try cars here that will be sold in other countries. Ram has already shown off the design, and other prototype Rampages have been seen with much thinner covers, so it’s a little strange that the camouflage is so heavy. Is it trying to hide locally specific differences in style? You can understand being skeptical. The Rampage will be the only car that breaks the rule that cars made for emerging countries can’t be sold in the US. There are many reasons for this rule. The biggest problem is the 25% Chicken Tax that is put on light cars that are brought into the United States. Currently, the Rampage is only known to be made in Brazil. Stellantis, on the other hand, has several ways to get around the problem. The Autopian says an exciting option would be to use the production lines at its Toluca Assembly plant in Mexico, which only makes the Jeep Compass but shares a platform with the Rampage. Ram has also been open about making a small truck for the American market. Last autumn, the company’s former CEO, Mike Koval, said that the business was “actively and aggressively” looking into ways to make it happen. He was replaced by Tim Kuniskis as CEO of Dodge as part of a more significant corporate change this week. If you like to read between the lines, you might notice that the news release about the change emphasised Kuniskis’ “rich understanding of the North American market.” He probably knows that Ford’s Maverick needs to catch up with the demand for small trucks and that the unique Hyundai Santa Cruz is attracting new buyers. It’s not clear if this, which looks a bit bigger than the Ford Maverick or a real midsize competitor to the Ford Ranger, Chevy Colorado, Nissan Frontier, and Toyota Tacoma, was the midsize electric truck that Koval also showed to several Ram dealers in March. In any case, Ram only sells full-size trucks in the US right now, and it hadn’t made anything smaller since 2011 when it stopped making the Dakota. The 2.0-liter “Hurricane 4” turbo, which makes 270 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque and is used in other Stellantis products like the Jeep Wrangler, should be one of the possible powertrains. It should be paired with a ZF nine-speed gearbox. In the meantime, a 2.2-liter turbodiesel engine is being looked into until a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) and a fully electric version is ready in a few years. The Rampage will come in different Big Horn, Laramie, R/T, and Rebel trims to match the 1500 half-ton. Even though there are still a lot of unanswered questions, the Ram Rampage is on track to go up against the Ford Maverick in our area. After all, the parts of the American flag in the headlights are there for a reason.
