As the transition towards electrification continues many have decried Stellantis for its seemingly slow movement in that direction. Design boss Ralph Gilles spoke out at the New York Auto Show about how its brands are approaching the future with touchstone concepts. He also leaned heavily into details on how the RAM REV came to be.
Gilles refers to recent Stellantis concept cars as North Stars or manifestos. While he didn’t name each one that checks that box internally, it seems reasonable that ones like the Chrysler Airflow, Dodge Charger Daytona SRT Banshee, and Jeep Wrangler Magneto 3.0 are all included.
These “manifestos” embody “everything we want to try to do, attempt to do, and will do in the future,” he said to Automotive News. More generally speaking he said that when called for, “there is a time when a manifesto piece is necessary to establish a new direction for the brand.”
More: Ram Says It Needs To Boost ICE Profits To Fund EV Plans
That’s the purpose behind the RAM REV concept. While many wanted to see it come to production almost unchanged, the REV concept is more so about what the future of RAM could look like. In fact, Gilles says that the production RAM 1500 REV almost looked even less like the concept.
“The front end wasn’t going to look like that. When we all looked at the Ram Rev concept, we stopped and went back and embodied the production one with a lot of those elements: the front, the rear,” he said. It’s a good thing that they made that adjustment too as Gilles says he’s proud of the “tuning fork” front-end lighting signature.
The team uses that tuning fork lighting design to draw attention to the new RAM logo that sits on the grille. They also make space for a large front trunk aimed at providing even more utility. According to Gilles, providing a truck that over-delivers on performance is a key part of the equation. We’ll have to wait to see how it does in the real world once it arrives sometime more than a year from now in late 2024.
