Not content with confirming it will finally launch its first global mid-size dual-cab ute in 2028, Ram has now also revealed it will introduce its first SUV in the same year.
As reported by Automotive News, Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa told financial analysts on Friday, October 31 that Ram is targeting an on-sale date in 2028 for its first SUV.
No other details were provided, but Mr Filosa said Ram’s all-new SUV and mid-size pickup will give the brand – which currently sells only the Ram 1500, 2500, 3500 and, in the US, the Ram ProMaster delivery van – a “much more comprehensive product range”.
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As with its smaller pickup, which could be called the Dakota, Ram is yet to confirm whether its first SUV will be produced in both left- and right-hand drive for global consumption.
However, Mr Fliosa confirmed the SUV will be offered with both petrol and extended-range electric vehicle (EREV) powertrains.
In September, Ram said it had cancelled development of the all-electric Ram pickup that was to have been called the REV – a name which will now apply to what it was referring to as the Ramcharger, which Ram says will be the world’s first ever range-extended full-size pickup.
That leaves the door open for Ram to use the Ramcharger name for the EREV version of its upcoming SUV, which some reports insist will be a large, body-on-frame wagon.
As part of the Stellantis group that also includes Jeep, Dodge, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati, Ram has several ladder-frame platforms at its disposal.
While a fresh report last week indicated the Ford Ranger-sized ‘Dakota’ dual-cab will be based on a different chassis to the Jeep Gladiator, both of those ladder chassis – and the Jeep Wrangler SUV’s – are likely to be 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 (WK2) Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Ironically, the original (1997-2003) Dodge Durango 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 therefore, that the Ram SUV will share many of its components with the now-Jeep-branded Grand Wagoneer, which is available in the US with Hemi petrol V8, Hurricane petrol six and, soon, range-extended hybrid powertrains.
Based on the Ram 1500 pickup, the latest Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer were launched in the US in 2021 – originally without Jeep branding – but last month Stellantis confirmed the former will be phased out by 2026, making the current 2025 model year its final iteration, while production of the Grand Wagoneer will continue.
If the upcoming Ram SUV does employ the Ramcharger name, it would follow the lead of the Dodge brand, whose previous Ramcharger models were SUV counterparts to its 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 US in 1993, but a third-generation model continued to be sold in Mexico between 1999 and 2001.
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