Ram To Introduce A New Midsize Pickup Concept At Dealer Meeting In March

Last month, the Ram brand revealed its Ram 1500 Revolution battery-electric vehicle (BEV) Concept at the Venetian Palazzo Ballroom in Las Vegas. Then, just this past week, the concept was shown to the mass public at the Chicago Auto Show, only to be overshadowed a couple of days later by the reveal of the production 2025 Ram 1500 REV before Ram’s widely seen Super Bowl LVII ad.

The timing confused a ton of Ram diehards. Leaving the base to wonder, why show off such a radically different concept truck? Especially, if they are going to unveil the 2025 model (which is more of an evolution of the fifth-generation Ram 1500, than a revolution like the concept) just over a month later. 

Well, there might be more to the Revolution BEV Concept than what people think. The official press release for the concept states that “the Ram Revolution BEV Concept is a visionary road map and a glimpse into the future, showing how the leading truck brand will once again redefine the pickup truck segment”. And what that statement leads us to today’s news.

MotorTrend has released an article saying that Ram will be showing its dealer body a conceptual midsized pickup offering as soon as next month. The publication states that Ram CEO Mike Koval, Jr. confirmed the news and said “we can clinic it to see if it is the right track,” referring to the new midsized pickup.

It is unclear if the midsized pickup concept will be based off of the STLA Large unibody-based or STLA Frame body-on-frame architecture. During its EV Day 2021 Presentation, Head of Stellantis Design Ralph Gilles, gave the public an insight into the STLA Large platform which will underpin several new vehicles including the upcoming Chrysler Airflow (CA), Dodge Charger (LB), Jeep® Recon (EJ), and Wagoneer S (KX). At the time, a design of a midsized electric pickup was shown using STLA Large underpinnings and using a lot of the design characteristics that would be shown on the Ram Revolution Concept pickup.

Currently, Ram is developing a new unibody-based compact pickup for the Latin American (LATAM) market, under the Ram 1200 nameplate. That pickup will be based on the current Small-Wide 4×4 LWB architecture that underpins vehicles like the Jeep Compass (MP) and Jeep Commander (H1). That vehicle is scheduled to be built in Brazil. It will be focused on the LATAM region with both gasoline and turbodiesel powertrains, according to our friends at the Brazilian publication AutosSegredos.

The truck that Ram will be showing at its dealer conference will be an entirely different vehicle. While vehicles like the Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, and Nissan Frontier are all body-on-frame vehicles, a unibody midsized vehicle would make the new Ram truck more of a lifestyle vehicle like the Honda Ridgeline. Something we think would be the opposite of what midsized truck buyers would want.

The Jeep Gladiator is currently a midsized body-on-frame pickup, and while we might be years out from a second generation of the current Gladiator, a Ram midsized pickup to share its underpinnings might prove to be a key element to the future development of such a vehicle.

Nevertheless, it is good to see Ram considering moving outside the full-size truck segment in North America. While we are excited about the possibilities of a midsized pickup on the horizon, we also would love to take on the hot-selling compact truck segment (led by the Ford Maverick) in the North American segment. Ram has already shown us, with some help from FIAT, that it is capable elsewhere in the world with the Ram 1000.

So what do you think? Should Ram make a new midsized pickup in the spirit of the Dodge Dakota with a true body-on-frame architecture? Or should Ram focus on a completely new lifestyle pickup that is full of function on a unibody-based platform? Let us know in the comments below, or the MoparInsiders.com forums.