A pickup truck smaller than the Ram 1500 has been absent from the Ram lineup since the Dakota was discontinued in 2011 after a 24-year run. Ram’s hiatus from the mid-size segment is about to end as FCA confirmed in its five-year plan on Friday that a new pickup slotted below the 1500 will be entering Ram’s lineup by 2022.
Ram’s decision to re-enter the mid-size pickup game is a response to a resurgence in the segment. Chevy and GMC have found success with the re-introduction of the Colorado and Canyon while Toyota enjoys pretty good sales numbers for the Tacoma. With Ford bringing the Ranger back to the U.S., it would have left Ram as the only one of the big three American truck manufacturers without a mid-size pickup.
Unfortunately, we don’t know much about the truck itself. We don’t even know the name and can’t confirm whether the old Dakota name will return.
However, we do know that when it does come out, it won’t come out as just a Ram. “The future mid-size pickup will be a metric ton truck for global markets and sold under either the Fiat or Ram brand, depending on the market,” said a Ram representative in an email to The Drive.
This strategy is nothing new for FCA. What we call the Ram ProMaster City is called the Fiat Doblò in global markets. Our Ram ProMaster is also called the Fiat Ducato, Citroën Jumper, and Peugeot Boxer in other parts of the world.
It will be interesting to see how similar the Ram product is from the Fiat product when it comes to the upcoming mid-size pickup considering the vans that are sold under both brands are virtually identical.