Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis says Ram will never be a true truck brand without small trucks as the CEO signals he wants to put Ram back in the hunt in the mid-size pickup segment.
Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis confirmed the brand can never be considered a true truck brand until it gets a new mid-size model.
It’s no secret that Ram is reeling with the truck brand struggling with weak and declining sales as a result of changing market conditions and mistakes that Stellantis made when it came to trim allotment with the company putting too strong of a focus on high-end luxury trims at the cost of reduced sales for more mainstream volume focused packages.
However, the brand is also suffering from the lack of a model in the smaller mid-size pickup segment with the CEO confirming that Ram will never be a true truck brand until it can go after the benchmark Toyota Tacoma in the hotly contested mid-size truck segment a battleground that’s morphing into the new hot zone in the pickup wars as more truck buyers move down in their quest for the perfect pickup.
Ram’s absence noticeable
The absence of Ram in this market has proven to be a colossal error with rivals eagerly building ground with their own mid-size models.
Kuniski’s frustration is understandable and one doesn’t have to look very far to see just how colossal of an error Stellantis and its predecessor FCA made when it chose to exit the smaller mid-size pickup market when the Dodge Dakota was axed. General Motors and Ford have entries in the segment in the form of the Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon and Ranger with the three of them recording strong sales especially in the off-road performance market. The Toyota Tacoma also continues to be the benchmark model and is still the truck other brands try to beat when making their mid-size trucks.
The Dakota used to be one of those upstarts trying to dethrone the Tacoma and while its age and corporate incompetence in the boardroom betrayed it in its later years, the truck was a strong seller for Dodge in the 1980s and 1990s with the truck even getting a wild convertible model at one point.“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,” Kuniskis told Road & Track. “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 midsize truck for sure.” He went on further in his candid remarks stating “We’re a truck brand and we don’t have a compact, we don’t have a mid-size. 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.”
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Ram must solve more immediate concerns
The Ram 1200 is currently the only mid-size model it has but while it’s sold in Mexico it needs to potentially undergo extensive revisions to make it comply with U.S. regulations.
Before Ram can even begin building a new mid-size pickup truck, it has to work with what it has with the brand currently focused on reversing the Ram 1500’s sales woes. The newly launched RHO model is supposed to give the lineup a new halo offering while shuffles in trim allotment are seeing more volume-focused trim levels make their way to dealerships amid existing demand for luxury models like the Tungsten.
Ram does have a mid-size model in international markets called the 1200 but while it’s sold in Mexico, it’s not built there meaning Stellantis would have to pay the 25% Chicken Tax to import them into the U.S. The 1200 would also have to be extensively reworked and re-engineered to make it comply with tough U.S. safety laws making it even more expensive for the company.
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