Plans to challenge the top-selling Toyota HiLux with a new ‘mid-sized’ pick-up are gathering pace at Ram in North America.
The strongest signs yet of a rival to the Toyota HiLux from US pick-up maker Ram – with petrol or electric power – have emerged out of North America.
The head of Ram has confirmed there is growing interest in the USA for a smaller pick-up than the full-size Ram 1500 currently sold in Australia.
The new model would compete head-on with models such as the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger – Australia’s top two selling vehicles for the past five years in a row.
Ram has not had a rival in the global “compact” pick-up segment since the Dakota was axed in the US in 2011.
Ram announced last year it is planning a HiLux-sized ute for launch in the US in 2026 – but it will be electric, and sit on a car-derived platform shared with large Jeep family SUVs and an upcoming Dodge electric muscle car.
It coincides with reports Ram’s Brazilian division is advancing its own plans for a new compact ute, based on a car-derived platform – but which is expected to use petrol engines.
Although there is no talk of right-hand-drive versions of either model – or whether a Ram-badged HiLux rival would be sold in Australia – plans for a smaller Ram ute appear to be gathering pace.
“The largest biggest white space opportunity for our brand is a mid-size pick-up,” Ram CEO Mike Koval told US website Muscle Cars and Trucks.
“We’re obviously looking at it very, very closely, but nothing to announce today.”
Why Koval hasn’t referenced Ram USA’s plan for an electric mid-size ute – due some time between 2024 and 2026 – isn’t clear.
Meanwhile, the Brazilian program is running under the codename of ‘291’, and is rumoured to carry the Ram 1200 badge to production, according to Brazilian website AutosSegredos.
The Brazilian development work could tie-in with the plans from the US, based on Koval’s comments, although Ram could be tapping resources from other brands within in the Stellantis group (the merger of Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot-Citroen).
“[Because of the merger] we also have access to different platforms, so I’m looking at other alternatives, and other opportunities that we currently have for sale in other markets,” he said.
“I’m absolutely looking at it, I promise you that. I think there’s opportunity in that small truck portion in the US market, and that’s where I’m looking to leverage part of our portfolio that may exist in other countries and potentially bringing something here.”
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