Ram Trucks (stylized as RAM) is an American brand of light to mid-weight pickup heavy duty trucks and other

commercial vehicle A commercial vehicle is any type of motor vehicle used for transporting goods or paying passengers. Depending on laws and designations, a commercial vehicle can be any broad type of motor vehicle used commercially or for business purposes. Classi ...

s, and a division of

Stellantis North America FCA US, LLC, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of ...

(previously Chrysler Group LLC). It was established in a

spin-off Spin-off, Spin Off, Spin-Off, or Spinoff may refer to: Entertainment and media *Spinoff (media), a media work derived from an existing work *''The Spinoff'', a New Zealand current affairs magazine * ''Spin Off'' (Canadian game show), a 2013 Canad ...

Dodge Dodge is an American brand of automobiles and a division of Stellantis, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included performance cars, and for much of its existence, Dodge was Chrysler's mid-priced brand above P ...

in 2009 using the name of the Ram pickup line of trucks. Ram Trucks' logo was originally used as Dodge's logo. New series Ram 1500 pickups are made at Sterling Heights Assembly in

Sterling Heights, Michigan Sterling Heights is a city in Macomb County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit, Sterling Heights is located roughly north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 134,346, placing Sterl ...

. Since its inception, the brand has used the slogan "Guts. Glory. Ram."

Background

Prior to the 1970s, Dodge had maintained a separate marque for trucks,

Fargo Trucks Fargo was a brand of trucks originally produced in the United States in 1913 by the Fargo Motor Car Company. Dropped in 1922, the name was reintroduced for a line of trucks manufactured by the Chrysler Corporation after purchasing Fargo Motors ...

, primarily for use outside the United States. After that point, all trucks made by

Chrysler FCA US, LLC, Trade name, doing business as Stellantis North America and known historically as Chrysler ( ), is one of the "Big Three (automobile manufacturers), Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn H ...

were distributed under the Dodge marque. In June 2009, when Chrysler emerged from

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

protection, Fiat Group received a 20% stake in Chrysler Group LLC and

Sergio Marchionne Sergio Marchionne (; 17 June 1952 – 25 July 2018) was an Italian-Canadian businessman, widely known for his turnarounds of the automakers Fiat and Chrysler, his business acumen and his outspoken and often frank approach, especially when dealing ...

was appointed CEO, replacing CEO

Robert Nardelli Robert Louis "Bob" Nardelli (born May 17, 1948) is an American businessman who was the CEO of Freedom Group from September 2010 to March 2012. Prior to that role, Nardelli served as chairman and CEO of Chrysler from August 2007 to April 2009 a ...

. On June 10 that year, substantially all of Chrysler's assets were sold to " New Chrysler", organized as Chrysler Group LLC. The federal government provided support for the deal with US$8 billion in financing at near 21%. Under CEO Marchionne, "World Class Manufacturing" or WCM, a system of thorough manufacturing quality, was introduced and several products re-launched with quality and luxury. The Ram,

Jeep Jeep is an American automobile brand, now owned by multi-national corporation Stellantis. Jeep has been part of Chrysler since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with other assets, from its previous owner, American Motors Co ...

, SRT and

divisions were separated to focus on their own identity and brands. Ram Trucks was established as a division of Chrysler in 2010, as a spin-off from Dodge, and using the name of the Dodge Ram line of pickups that is now sold under the Ram banner. According to Chrysler, the Ram Trucks brand will concentrate on "real truck customers", rather than casual truck buyers who buy trucks for image or style. The

Fiat Ducato The Fiat Ducato is a light commercial vehicle jointly developed by FCA Italy and PSA Group (currently Stellantis), and mainly manufactured by Sevel, a joint venture between the two companies since 1981. It has also been sold as the Citroën C ...

cargo van design has been adopted and is sold as the Ram ProMaster in North American markets, filling the gap created when Daimler ended production of the

Dodge Sprinter The Mercedes-Benz Sprinter is a light commercial vehicle ( van) built by Mercedes-Benz Group AG of Stuttgart, Germany as a large van, chassis cab, minibus, and pickup truck. In the past, the Sprinter had been sold under the Mercedes-Benz, Dod ...

in 2008. The goal was to increase truck sales "from today's 280,000 to 415,000 by 2014". Executives at Chrysler stated their intention to compete in the

semi-trailer truck A semi-trailer truck (also known by a wide variety of other terms – see below) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer attaches to the tractor with a type of hitch called ...

category with Ram, a possibility that was aided by Fiat's ownership of

Iveco Iveco S.p.A., an acronym for Industrial Vehicles Corporation, is an Italian multinational transport vehicle manufacturing company with headquarters in Turin, Italy. It designs and builds light, medium, and heavy Commercial vehicle, commercial veh ...

and an already available network of Dodge dealers. Ram trucks are marketed separately from Dodge cars; former Ram Division President Fred Diaz stated, "Ram trucks are not a Dodge model. Ram will always be 'vinned' (

Vehicle Identification Number A vehicle identification number (VIN; also called a chassis number or frame number) is a unique code, including a serial number, used by the automotive industry to identify individual motor vehicles, towed vehicles, motorcycles, scooters a ...

) as a Ram. We need to continue to market as Ram so Dodge can have a different brand identity: hip, cool, young, energetic. That will not fit the campaign for truck buyers. The two should have distinct themes." On July 21, 2011, Fiat bought the Chrysler shares held by the

U.S. Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the Treasury, national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States. It is one of 15 current United States federal executive departments, U.S. government departments. ...

, increasing its stake in the company. In April 2013, Diaz left Ram Trucks to serve as vice president of

Nissan is a Japanese multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan. The company sells its vehicles under the ''Nissan'' and ''Infiniti'' brands, and formerly the ''Datsun'' brand, with in-house ...

's divisional sales and marketing. He was replaced by Reid Bigland. Fiat Chrysler formed as a new corporate entity in January 2014. In August 2014, Ram Trucks CEO Reid Bigland was tapped to lead the

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...

brand in North America. It was announced that the new head of the Ram Trucks brand would be longtime Chrysler employee Robert Hegbloom, who joined Chrysler in 1986 and had been a director for

. In October 2018, Bigland was promoted to CEO of Ram Trucks. Shortly thereafter, he discovered that the division had been misreporting sales figures and turned over that information to the U.S. government for investigation. Allegedly, Fiat Chrysler cut his bonuses in retaliation, which resulted in Bigland filing a whistleblower lawsuit against them. In March 2020, Bigland announced his

resignation Resignation is the formal act of relinquishing or vacating one's office or position. A resignation can occur when a person holding a position gained by election or appointment steps down, but leaving a position upon the expiration of a term, or ...

. In December 2024, former CEO of Dodge and Ram, Tim Kuniskis came out of retirement to once again become CEO of Ram.

Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automaker formed in 2021 through the Mergers and acquisitions, merger of the Italian–American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group, PSA (Peugeot S.A.) Group. The company's hea ...

formed in 2021 when Fiat Chrysler merged with the French

PSA Group Peugeot S.A., trading as Groupe PSA () (formerly PSA Peugeot Citroën from 1991 to 2016) was a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company which produced automobiles and motorcycles unde ...

. Stellantis to introduce its first hydrogen-powered vehicle in the North American market. The Ram brand logo features the head of a

ram Ram, ram, or RAM most commonly refers to: * A male sheep * Random-access memory, computer memory * Ram Trucks, US, since 2009 ** List of vehicles named Dodge Ram, trucks and vans ** Ram Pickup, produced by Ram Trucks Ram, ram, or RAM may also ref ...

, formerly the logo used by Dodge.

Trucks

For specifically foreign-market models (designed by

Chrysler Europe Chrysler Europe was the American automotive company Chrysler's operations in Europe from 1967 through 1978. It was formed from the merger of the French Simca, British Rootes and Spanish Barreiros companies. In 1978, Chrysler divested thes ...

, etc.), see below. From 1927 to 1928, all trucks built by

were sold under the Graham name, as that company held the marketing rights at that time.

Current

* Ram pickup (1981–present): The brand's flagship product line of pickup trucks. **

Ram 1500 (DT) The Ram 1500 (DT) is the fifth generation of the Ram pickup, Ram Pickup, manufactured by the Ram Trucks division of Stellantis. The fifth generation Ram was introduced in January 2018 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, Mic ...

(2019–present): Full-sized pickup truck, the company's fifth-generation model. ** Ram 1500 REV (2028, expected): Electric full-sized pickup truck. ** Ram 1500 Ramcharger (2026, expected): Plug-in hybrid full-sized pickup truck. ** Ram Heavy Duty (2019–present): Series of heavy-duty pickup truck models. * Ram 700 (2014–present): The Fiat Strada, a

coupé utility A coupé utility is a vehicle with a passenger compartment at the front and an integrated tray#cargo tray, cargo tray at the rear, with the front of the cargo bed doubling as the rear of the passenger compartment. The term originated in the 19 ...

sold in Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, Brazil and Peru, is sold as the Ram 700 in Mexico and South America (formerly known as Ram V700 Express in Chile). *

Ram 1000 The Fiat Toro is a pickup truck made by Fiat in Brazil. It is derived from the Fiat FCC4 Concept and is based on the Small Wide 4×4 architecture shared with the Jeep Renegade, Jeep Compass, and the Fiat 500X. In several markets in Latin America ...

(2018–present): The

Fiat Toro The Fiat Toro is a pickup truck made by Fiat Automobiles, Fiat in Brazil. It is derived from the Fiat FCC4 Concept and is based on the GM Fiat Small platform, Small Wide 4×4 architecture shared with the Jeep Renegade, Jeep Compass, and the Fiat 5 ...

, a compact pickup manufactured in Brazil, is sold in Latin America as the Ram 1000. * Ram 1200 (2025–present) : The Changan F70 / Peugeot Landtrek, a midsize pickup built by a Shenzhen Baoneng Motor joint venture, was sold as the Ram 1200 in Mexico. *Ram ProMaster (2013–present): The brand's line of vans **Ram ProMaster Van (2013–present): Full-size vans for the North America market. The line includes models 1500, 2500, and 3500, with cut-away chassis-cab versions available. Rebadged

. **Ram ProMaster Rapid (2014–present): The Latin America-spec

Fiat Fiorino The Fiat Fiorino is a small commercial vehicle produced by the Italian car manufacturer Fiat since 1977. Its first two generations have been the panel van derivatives of other small models, such as the Fiat 127 and Fiat Uno, while the current th ...

van is sold as the Ram ProMaster Rapid in Mexico **Ram V700 Rapid (2014–present): The Latin America-spec

van is sold as the Ram V700 Rapid in Chile, Bolivia, Colombia, and Peru. **Ram V700 City (2018–present): The European-spec

van is sold as the Ram V700 City in Chile. *

Ram Rampage The Ram Rampage is a unibody pickup truck produced by Stellantis in Brazil and marketed through the American Ram marque. Introduced in June 2023, it is the first Ram-branded vehicle to be produced in Brazil. According to Ram, the name 'Rampage' i ...

(2023–present): A unibody pickup truck produced by Stellantis in Brazil and marketed through the American Ram marque. It is the first Ram-branded vehicle to be produced in Brazil. File:2014 Ram 1500 ProMaster Tradesman SWB std roof front.jpg, 2014 Ram 1500 ProMaster Tradesman SWB File:2019 Ram 1500 Laramie, front 2.28.20.jpg, 2019 Ram 1500 Laramie File:2023-10-11 17 03 37 Verizon bucket truck along Lochatong Road in the Mountainview section of Ewing Township, Mercer County, New Jersey.jpg, Ram 4500 DS (a medium duty version of the 4th generation Ram pickup), operated by

Verizon Verizon Communications Inc. ( ), is an American telecommunications company headquartered in New York City. It is the world's second-largest telecommunications company by revenue and its mobile network is the largest wireless carrier in the ...

File:2024 Ram Rampage Rebel (Brazil) front view.png,

File:Ram 700 Big Horn 1.4 CD 2021.jpg, Ram 700

Former

Dodge Dakota The Dodge Dakota, marketed as the Ram Dakota for the final two years of production, is a Pickup truck#Mid-size pickups, mid-size pickup truck manufactured by Chrysler and marketed by its Dodge Truck division (model years 1987-2009) and later its R ...

(1987–2011): A mid-size pickup, it was moved to the Ram marque with the full-size pickup lineup, although the vehicle retained its physical

branding. It was also

rebadged In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. T ...

as the

Mitsubishi Raider The Mitsubishi Raider is a pickup truck from Mitsubishi Motors that debuted in the fall of 2005 as a 2006 model for the United States market and is based largely on the Dodge Dakota. The name is recycled from the Dodge Raider SUV sold from 1987 t ...

. *Ram H100: The

Hyundai Starex The Hyundai Starex () is a series of light commercial vehicles built by Hyundai. The first-generation models were known in Europe as Hyundai H-1, and in the Netherlands as Hyundai H200. The cargo variant of the second-generation models was marke ...

was sold as a Ram in Mexico, although the

Hyundai Hyundai is a former South Korean industrial conglomerate ("''chaebol''"), which was restructured into the following groups: * Hyundai Group, parts of the former conglomerate which have not been divested ** Hyundai Asan, a real estate construction ...

badges were kept. * Ram C/V Tradesman (2012–2015): Cargo versions of the then-current Chrysler minivan platform were sold under the Ram marque until replaced by the ProMaster City. *Ram 1200 (2016–2019): The Fiat Fullback /

Mitsubishi Triton The Mitsubishi Triton or Mitsubishi L200 is a mid-size pickup truck produced by Mitsubishi Motors. In Japan, where it has only been sold intermittently and in small numbers, it was originally known as the Mitsubishi Forte and from 1991 as the ...

, a midsize pickup built by a Fiat–

Mitsubishi The is a group of autonomous Japanese multinational companies in a variety of industries. Founded by Yatarō Iwasaki in 1870, the Mitsubishi Group traces its origins to the Mitsubishi zaibatsu, a unified company that existed from 1870 to 194 ...

joint venture, was sold as the Ram 1200 in the United Arab Emirates. *

Ram 1500 TRX The Ram 1500 TRX is a high-performance variant of the fifth-generation Ram 1500 (DT) pickup truck produced by the Ram Trucks division of Stellantis. The TRX name was based on the Ram Rebel TRX concept that was shown at the 2016 State Fair of T ...

(2019–2024): High-performance full-sized pickup truck. *Ram ProMaster City/Ram V1000 (2014–2023): The

Fiat Doblò The Fiat Doblò is a panel van and leisure activity vehicle produced by Italian automaker Fiat since 2000. It was unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in October 2000. A second-generation Doblò succeeded the original vehicle in 2010 for most markets ...

van is sold as the Ram ProMaster City in North America and the Ram V1000 in Chile. File:Ram 1200 GLS 2019.jpg, Ram 1200 File:2021-22 RAM 1500 TRX.jpg,

File:Ram ProMaster City Montréal.jpg, Ram ProMaster City File:2012 Ram Cargo Van -- 06-02-2012.JPG, Ram Cargo Van File:2008 Dodge Dakota.jpg,

Production

Ram vehicles are manufactured at five facilities; two in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

, one in

Western Asia West Asia (also called Western Asia or Southwest Asia) is the westernmost region of Asia. As defined by most academics, UN bodies and other institutions, the subregion consists of Anatolia, the Arabian Peninsula, Iran, Mesopotamia, the Armenian ...

, and two in

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

. * Sterling Heights Assembly,

, United States. This facility was first built in 1953 as the Michigan Ordinance Missile Plant, operated by the US Army. Chrysler Corporation purchased the facility in 1983. The plant currently produces the Ram 1500 (Quad Cab and Crew Cab). * Saltillo Truck Assembly Plant,

Saltillo, Coahuila Saltillo () is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican State, Mexican state of Coahuila and is also the municipal seat of the Saltillo Municipality, municipality of the same name. Mexico City, Monterrey, and Saltillo are all con ...

, Mexico. The facility first opened in 1995. The plant manufactures the Ram 2500-5500 Heavy Duty and the Mexico-only DX Chassis Cab. The plant has won numerous awards and has been recognized as the Chrysler groups best truck facility in terms of build quality. The Saltillo stamping plant is also attached to the facility. *

Tofaş TOFAŞ Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş (acronym for ''Türk Otomobil Fabrikası Anonim Şirketi''; ''Turkish Automobile Factory Joint-Stock Company'' pronounced ) is a Turkish automobile manufacturer which was established in 1968 by Vehbi Koç, ...

Bursa Bursa () is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the Marmara Region, Bursa is one of the industrial centers of the country. Most of ...

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

. The plant produces vehicles primarily for the European market; however, the Ram ProMaster City is produced at Tofaş and imported into North America. *

Goiana Goiana () is a city in Brazil in the northeast of the state of Pernambuco, roughly 65 km north of the city of Recife, 51 km from the capital of João Pessoa, Paraíba, Paraíba and 2,187 km from Brasília. Its historic center was ...

Pernambuco Pernambuco ( , , ) is a States of Brazil, state of Brazil located in the Northeast Region, Brazil, Northeast region of the country. With an estimated population of 9.5 million people as of 2024, it is the List of Brazilian states by population, ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

. The plant produces vehicles primarily for the Latin American market. The output consist of FCA Small Wide 4×4 and Small Wide 4×4 LWB platform based vehicles, the factory produces Jeep and Ram branded trucks and SUVs. The plant currently produces the

and

(the badge-engineered

), along with the

Jeep Renegade The Jeep Renegade is a subcompact crossover SUV produced by Stellantis under their Jeep marque. It was first shown to the public in March 2014 at the Geneva Motor Show#2014, Geneva Motor Show and production started in late August of that year. T ...

Jeep Compass The Jeep Compass is a compact crossover SUV, introduced in 2006 for the 2007 model year. The first generation Compass and Patriot, its rebadged variant, were among Jeep's first crossover SUVs. The second-generation Compass debuted in Septem ...

, and the Meridian. *

Betim Betim is a town in Minas Gerais, Brazil. The city belongs to the mesoregion Metropolitan of Belo Horizonte (BH) and to the microregion of Belo Horizonte. It is the fifth largest city in Minas Gerais and one of the 50 largest cities in the Southeas ...

Minas Gerais Minas Gerais () is one of the 27 federative units of Brazil, being the fourth largest state by area and the second largest in number of inhabitants with a population of 20,539,989 according to the 2022 Brazilian census, 2022 census. Located in ...

. A Fiat factory that produces the Ram ProMaster Rapid/Ram V700 Rapid (the Latin America-spec

badge-engineered In the automotive industry, rebadging (also known as badge engineering, an intentionally ironic misnomer in that little or no actual engineering takes place) is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. ...

) and the Ram 700 (the badge-engineered Fiat Strada).

In popular culture

Ram Trucks entered popular culture in an unintentional way on February 4, 2018, during

Super Bowl LII Super Bowl LII was an American football game played to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2017 season. As a rematch of Super Bowl XXXIX from 13 years earlier, the game was between the National Football Conferen ...

. Their commercial's use of Rev.

Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...

's sermon "The Drum Major Instinct" was quickly and widely panned by audiences, academics, news outlets and social media alike. Of particular concern was its usage of a speech in which King condemned advertising ("we are so often taken by advertisers... those gentlemen of massive verbal persuasion") to sell more Ram Trucks. Within hours, content creators on YouTube had made spin-offs ("What Martin Luther King Actually Thought About Car Commercials", "The MLK Super Bowl Ad Dodge Didn't Show You", "What Dodge LEFT OUT Of Their MLK Commercial In Super Bowl", etc.) that showed a more accurate perspective of King's sermon and opinions about advertising. Ram trucks feature prominently in Taylor Sheridan's ''Yellowstone'' television series as the chosen work vehicles of the Yellowstone Dutton Ranch, featuring the ranch's logo and branding on the sides of the vehicles. The trucks feature a variety of configurations, mostly 2500-series trucks with the 6.7L

Cummins Cummins Inc. is an American multinational corporation, multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, electric vehicle components, and power generation products. Cummins also services engines and related equipmen ...

diesel.

European versions of Ram vans

Fiat Professional Fiat Professional is the brand name and subsidiary of Stellantis which manufactures light commercial vehicles and their passenger variants. It was launched on 17 April 2007 and replaced the Fiat Veicoli Commerciali division. Fiat Professional is ...

: This was FCA's global light commercial vehicle brand marketed outside North America, marketing the same vans marketed as Ram in the Americas. In the other part of

, PSA, and all brands except

DS Automobiles DS Automobiles is a French Luxury car, luxury-Premium segment, premium marque created in 2009. Formerly part of Automobiles Citroën, Automobiles Citroën S.A., DS has been a standalone brand ultimately owned by PSA Group, later Stellantis. The in ...

sell vans in three sizes under their respective brands.

References

External links

* {{Navboxes , titlestyle = background:#ccccff , list= {{Ram Truck Timeline {{Chrysler LLC {{Stellantis {{Dodge {{Dodge Truck Timeline {{Automotive industry in the United States {{Trucking industry in the United States Dodge Stellantis Motor vehicle manufacturers based in Michigan Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 2010 Truck manufacturers of the United States Pickup trucks 2010 establishments in Michigan Car brands