Ram Boss “Desperately” Wants A Smaller Pickup

The boss at Ram has made it clear—he “desperately” wants a smaller pickup truck in the lineup to better compete with rivals like Toyota and Ford. While rumors about Ram entering the mid-size truck market in the US have been circulating for what feels like ages, the brand has yet to make a move, leaving American buyers to watch smaller Ram trucks launch overseas while the domestic market gets left in the dust.

While recently speaking with Road & Track, Tim Kuniskis—who, after a six-month retirement, returned to lead Ram just a week after Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares stepped down—noted that there’s a clear market for a new, small pickup. He even went so far as to call it disingenuous for a truck brand not to offer a compact or mid-size option.

“I Desperately Want It”

“I think we can grow more in our sub-$55,000 price point, because I used to have [the Ram Classic] and I don’t have that [truck] anymore,” he said. “I’m doing some interesting stuff down there with Tradesmans and Warlocks and stuff like that, but I need to do more there. I need a mid-size truck for sure.”

Read: Ram Boss Says We’ll Be “Surprised” By New Midsize Pickup, Promises More Details In 2025

“We’re a truck brand and we don’t have a compact, we don’t have a mid-size,” Kuniskis added. “Kinda disingenuous to call me a truck brand, isn’t it? So yeah, I need that. I want that, I need that. I’m not telling you that I am going to have it in six months, but I desperately want it, and there is a market for it.”

Kuniskis added that Toyota sells over 200,000 Tacomas a year, Ford is “doing close to 200,000 between the Maverick and the Ranger,” and “GM’s doing around 140,000 between GMC and Chevy.”

Backing from the Top

Fortunately for Kuniskis, Chrysler chief executive Chris Feuell is on board. In November, she confirmed a smaller pickup “will be brought to market,” and confirmed a platform has already been chosen for it. It’s unclear if it will be a mid-size model to compete with the Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado, and GMC Canyon, or a smaller unibody truck to rival the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick.

Regardless, the upcoming smaller Ram truck will likely be built at the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, which was the home of the Jeep Cherokee. The pickup should also be offered in overseas markets, not just the US.

Lessons from the Past (and Overseas)

While Ram has done without a mid-size pickup in the US since the Dakota, it does sell models like the Rampage in South America, which uses the same unibody platform as the Jeep Compass and Commander. Ram also sells the 1200, which is built on a ladder-frame chassis and is a rebadged version of the Fiat Titano and Peugeot Landtrek, both of which are based on the Chinese Kaicene F70 and Changan pickups.