Crossovers may seem like the biggest thing these days – in terms of demand, if not size. Especially since traditional truck-based SUVs like the Ford Explorer and Nissan Pathfinder have gone to car-like unibody construction. But there’s still room in the market for full-size, ladder-frame sport-utes.
Between the Chevy Tahoe/Suburban and GMC Yukon, General Motors sells… well, truckloads of ’em. Ford has the Expedition, Toyota the Sequoia, and Nissan the Armada. So what about Fiat Chrysler?
It has the Dodge Durango, which has long since grown from its mid-size confines into a full-size model. But in the process, it’s ditched its pickup truck underpinnings in favor of a crossover platform it now shares with the Jeep Grand Cherokee. What’s more is that FCA has more crossovers planned for the near future.
But what if it turned the new Ram 1500 into an SUV? It might look a little something like this rather tempting-looking rendering from our friend Nikita Aksyonov.
Auburn Hills has long been considering pulling off just such a move, but despite decades of rumors, the Ram-based sport-ute has never actually materialized. Yet with the new Ram 1500 pickup, revealed just last week at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, coming in lighter and more fuel-efficient than its predecessors – and FCA concentrating more on bigger products than smaller ones – now could be the time.
So what do you say, Signore Marchionne? Is there room the portfolio (and the budget) for a real SUV amidst the Durangos, Stelvios, Levantes, and all the other crossovers huddled under the FCA umbrella? Inquiring minds want to know, to say nothing of the customers and dealers.
