No V-8? No Sale, Say 40% of Ram Buyers

The latest-generation Ram 1500 pickup got off to a slow start when it made its debut two years ago, sales only taking off when the automaker revived the Hemi engine option last summer. Nearly half of Ram buyers demand a V-8 a senior executive said, even if doesn’t deliver the power, performance – or fuel economy of today’s turbocharged inline-6. More from Headlight.News.

On paper, at least, the new Hurricane engine would seem to be a winner. When Ram launched a completely new version of its full-size 1500 pickup in mid-2024 it bragged about the power, performance, towing capacity – and fuel economy — of the turbocharged inline-6, a substantial improvement over the old V-8.

Yet sales lagged well behind the old truck, despite an aggressive ad campaign and increasingly lucrative deals. It was only in the final months of 2025 that momentum started to rebound. The trick? Parent Stellantis read the tea leaves and realized a substantial number of potential buyers weren’t going to sign on the dotted line for a truck that didn’t have a Hemi under the hood.

Fully “40% of the buyers of a pickup won’t consider a specific pickup brand if this brand doesn’t offer a V8,” Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa told The Drive following the automaker’s Investors Day even. During a day-long presentation, meanwhile, company officials made it clear that the time-tested Hemi engine will find a number of other applications in Stellantis products.

Reversing course

Like its key competitors, Stellantis has faced challenges meeting federal emissions regulations in recent years. That cost the company billions in terms of both fines and the purchase of credits helping it stay in compliance with government mandates.

As a result, the carmaker began shifting away from the big V-8 powerplants its U.S. brands – primarily Ram, Dodge and Jeep – were known for. When he came onboard as head of Jeep in November 2023, Filosa told Headlight.News the off-road brand would offer a mix of six different powertrain technologies, from internal combustion to hybrid to fully electric. The rest of the North American brands were set to follow suit. That included a heavy emphasis on not only EVs but far more efficient ICE drivetrains, like the Hurricane.

Officials were convinced the new, inline-6 would catch on quick considering its strong specs. The base version of the 3.0-liter twin-turbo engine used in the Ram 1500 delivered 420 hp and 469 lb-ft of torque. The High-Output package added an aluminum block and head, along with cross-bolted main bearing caps, and various forged components designed, brand officials said, to stand up to the harshest demands truckers might make. The HO Hurricane bumped output to 540 hp and 521 lb-ft – yet still delivered 17 mpg. That was substantially better than the old Hemi on all counts.

Except one: buyers weren’t biting.

Return of the Hemi

“We own it. We got it wrong and we’re fixing it,” Tim Kuniskis, the CEO of Ram and head of North American brands, said last July, as the truck division prepared to bring the Hemi back.

After watching sales dip below 400,000 for the first time in a decade, Ram officials collectively held their breath…but found they could soon breathe a sigh of satisfaction, orders for the big V-8 initially outpacing production capacity.

Since relaunching the Hemi in the 1500 pickup, Stellantis has rushed to find other applications. It’s going into the HD version of the Ram and will show up in several Jeep models, it appears, including a version of the Gladiator. It’s already scored big in the Wrangler. And Dodge is ready to relaunch a Hemi in a Hellcat version of the new Charger. It’s expected to make more than 700 horsepower.

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No other option

While there may be a market for V-8s in SUVs and muscle cars, the most intense loyalty is in pickups, noted Filosa.

“Ram truck buyers buy it for image,” said Sam Fiorani, lead analyst with AutoForecast Solutons. “It’s not necessarily for hauling things. V-8s make a distinct sound that’s part of driving a Ram truck”

Ram buyers have proven to be especially loyal to the Hemi, at least when compared to other brands. At Ford, 75% of the F-150s it sold last year were equipped with V-6 engines, especially the turbocharged EcoBoost packages. At Chevrolet, however, fully half of its Silverado 1500 pickups are V-8-powered, 42% equipped with the 5.3-liter EcoTec3, another 8% with a 6.2-liter package. Parent General Motors apparently doesn’t want to repeat Ram’s mistake and is developing a more efficient small-block V-8 due to debut in 2027.

“Freedom of Choice”

During the Investors Day event, Filosa stressed that EVs aren’t going away, though the automaker has clearly pared back future plans – a shift which contributed to a $26 billion loss last year.

Calling it “Freedom of Choice,” Stellantis continues to be working up a “multi-energy” strategy that will include some EVs, such as delayed Recon, as well as hybrid, plug-in hybrids, range-extenders and ICE packages. Recon, under the new “Fastlane 2030” plan, will also be offered with a gas drivetrain option.

The Trump administration’s rollback of federal emissions standards – and its decision not to collect fines for automakers missing targets – has given companies like Stellantis more wiggle room when it comes to powertrain options. But there’s a growing demand for better fuel economy from American motorists, as a whole. That’s underscored by the current boom in hybrid sales. And it makes clear that while there may be a niche for V-8s, they won’t return to the point where they again dominate American roadways.