We’re not content with confirming that it will finally launch its world’s first mid-size double-cab vehicle in 2028, R.A.M. has now also announced that it will introduce its first SUV in the same year.
As reported by Automotive NewsStellantis CEO Antonio Filosa told financial analysts on Friday, Oct. 31, that Ram is targeting a 2028 sales date for its first SUV.
No further details were revealed, but Mr Filosa said Ram’s all-new SUV and mid-size pickup truck would give the brand – which currently only sells the Ram 1500, 2500, 3500 and, in the US, the Ram ProMaster van – a “much more comprehensive product range”.
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As with its smaller pickup truck, which could be called the Dakota, Ram has yet to confirm whether its first SUV with both left- and right-hand drive will be produced for global consumption.
However, Mr Fliosa confirmed that the SUV will be offered with both petrol and EREV (Extended Range Electric Vehicle) powertrains.
In September, Ram announced that it was canceling development of the all-electric Ram pickup truck that was supposed to be called REV – a name that now applies to the so-called Ramcharger, which Ram says will be the world’s first full-size, range-extended pickup truck.
That leaves the door open for Ram to use the Ramcharger name for the EREV version of its upcoming SUV, which some reports suggest will be a body-on-frame full-size wagon.
As part of the Stellantis Group, which also includes Jeep, Dodge, Alfa Romeo and Maserati, Ram has multiple ladder frame platforms.
While a new report last week suggested that the Ford Ranger-sized “Dakota” crew cab chassis will be based on a different chassis than the Jeep Gladiator, both ladder chassis – and that of the Jeep Wrangler SUV – are likely too compact for the Ram SUV.
Although Stellantis has also committed to producing a new-generation Dodge Durango in 2029, the large SUV that currently bears that name, launched in 2011, is based on the same car-like monocoque platform as the previous-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee (WK2).
Ironically, the original Dodge Durango (1997–2003) was based on the same Chrysler DN ladder chassis as the Dodge Dakota pickup, as was the second generation (2004–2009).
It’s more likely, then, that the Ram SUV will share many of its components with the Grand Wagoneer, which now operates under the Jeep brand and is available in the U.S. with Hemi V8 gasoline engines, Hurricane gasoline six-cylinder engines and soon range-extended hybrid powertrains.
Based on the Ram 1500 pickup, the latest Wagoneer and 2021 Grand Wagoneer were launched in the US – initially without Jeep branding – but last month Stellantis confirmed that the former will be phased out by 2026, making the current 2025 model year its final iteration, while production of the Grand Wagoneer continues.
If the upcoming Ram SUV does indeed use the Ramcharger name, it would follow the example of the Dodge brand, whose previous Ramcharger models were SUV counterparts to their full-size pickups before the Ram brand was separated from Dodge in 2009.
The last Ram pickup-based Dodge Ramcharger SUV was discontinued in the United States in 1993, but a third-generation model continued to be sold in Mexico between 1999 and 2001.
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