According to our friends at the automotive magazine CarAdvice, American Special Vehicles (ASV) has built their first 2018 Ram 1500 pickup at it’s facility Melbourne, Australia. ASV is the official licensed company to convert Ram Trucks to right-hand-drive (RHD) and sell them for FCA in Australia. Since 2015, the company has been converting and selling Ram Heavy Duty trucks to the crowd down under.
Until now, only the Ram 2500HD and Ram 3500HD single-rear wheel models have been sold in the Australian market. All trucks converted and sold by ASV are covered by a three-year/100,000km warranty along with full parts and service support. Each of the Ram’s that ASV converts comes from the FCA’s Saltillo Truck plant in Mexico. All Heavy Duty imported so far have been powered by the 6.7-liter Cummins turbo diesel.
When the Heavy Duty models first launched in Australia, pricing start at $139,500AUD ($106,995USD) plus on-road costs for the ‘entry’ and greater-volume Ram 2500 and climbed to $146,500AUD ($112,365USD) for the Ram 3500. Even with high prices, the trucks have become popular in Australia.
ASV announced last year, that they would be importing and converting Ram 1500 models. That has been backed with a lot of hype by potential customers after showing off a Ram 1500 Rebel at the 2017 National 4×4 Outdoors Show and Fishing and Boating Expo at Melbourne’s showgrounds. The models weren’t expected to start production until mid-June, however ASV has started production early.
While pricing has yet to be officially announced, the RHD Ram 1500 model from ASV will be for sale in Australia and the New Zealand markets in just two weeks.
