Tim Kuniskis Says Ram Needs A Smaller Pickup

The new boss of Ram says he “desperately” wants a smaller pickup truck to help the brand better compete with rivals, including Toyota and Ford. For years, speculation has swirled about Ram entering the mid-size pickup market in the US and while small Ram trucks are present in overseas markets, America has so far missed out.

While recently speaking with Road & Track, Tim Kuniskis noted there is a market for a new, small pickup and that it’s disingenuous for a truck brand to not be selling a compact or mid-size truck.

Read: Ram Boss Says We’ll Be “Surprised” By New Midsize Pickup, Promises More Details In 2025

“I think we can grow more in our sub-$55,000 price point, because I used to have [the Ram Classic] and I don’t have that [truck] anymore,” he said. “I’m doing some interesting stuff down there with Tradesmans and Warlocks and stuff like that, but I need to do more there. I need a mid-size truck for sure.”

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“We’re a truck brand and we don’t have a compact, we don’t have a mid-size,” Kuniskis added. “Kinda disingenuous to call me a truck brand, isn’t it? So yeah, I need that. I want that, I need that. I’m not telling you that I am going to have it in six months, but I desperately want it, and there is a market for it.”

Kuniskis added that Toyota sells over 200,000 Tacomas a year, Ford is “doing close to 200,000 between the Maverick and the Ranger,” and “GM’s doing around 140,000 between GMC and Chevy.”

Kuniskis isn’t the only one

Fortunately for Kuniskis, Chrysler chief executive Chris Feuell is on board. In November, she confirmed a smaller pickup “will be brought to market,” and confirmed a platform has already been chosen for it. It’s unclear if it will be a mid-size model to compete with the Ford Ranger, Toyota Tacoma, Chevrolet Colorado, and GMC Canyon, or a smaller unibody truck to rival the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick.

Regardless, the upcoming smaller Ram truck will likely be built at the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois, which was the home of the Jeep Cherokee. The pickup should also be offered in overseas markets, not just the US.

While Ram has done without a mid-size pickup in the US since the Dakota, it does sell models like the Rampage in South America, which uses the same unibody platform as the Jeep Compass and Commander. Ram also sells the 1200, which is built on a ladder-frame chassis and is a rebadged version of the Fiat Titano and Peugeot Landtrek, both of which are based on the Chinese Kaicene F70 and Changan pickups.