It was just a matter of time, you might say, but now it’s been confirmed: The FCA Group says it will produce a mid-size pickup that would join the RAM lineup of trucks. The model will be built on the same platform as the upcoming Jeep Scrambler pickup.
With the number of products fighting it out in this segment on the rise, it’s little surprise that FCA wants its share of the pie. But recall that just a few short years ago, the company was saying it wasn’t interesting in developing a rival to the Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon tandem that were coming back onto the market.
It’s safe to assume that the coming return of the Ranger and the arrival of potential rivals from Volkswagen and Hyundai probably helped shape the thinking of the FCA brain-trust.
In 2016, FCA boss Mike Manley, then at the head of RAM, declared that demand was strong and sustained enough to support both a Jeep and a RAM pickup.
The new model is expected to be market-ready by 2022. A TRX variant (the equivalent of the Colorado ZR2 and the future Raptor edition of the Ford Ranger), could well be part of the mix.
With the addition of the pickup we presume will inherit the Dakota name, FCA hopes to push total annual sales at the RAM division from their current 770,000 to over 1 million in 2022.