The Dodge Dakota title has been revived, this time carrying a Ram badge. That is the excellent news. The dangerous information is that this new midsize pickup truck – technically a rival to the Toyota Tacoma and Ford Ranger – is not coming to America… but. Do not click on away due to that, since you’ll need to get a load of this new Dakota Dusk idea. In spite of everything, Tim Kuniskis has stated Ram wants greater than only a single truck line in America if it desires to contemplate itself an actual truck maker, and the Ram Dakota has promise.
To start with, this is not the manufacturing pickup truck. As a substitute, the Ram Dakota Dusk idea previews the manufacturing truck that may revive the Dakota title. Nonetheless, whereas it could be labeled an idea, we’re clearly a last manufacturing design kitted out with varied equipment and a particular livery.
The Mini Ram 1500 America Wants
The Dakota nameplate was final utilized in 2011 for the third-generation midsize pickup truck. It is lain dormant since, nevertheless, and amid requires Ram to re-enter the midsize phase dominated by the Toyota Tacoma, it is ripe for a revival. Stylistically, this new idea appears to be like prepared for the USA, because it borrows the bigger Ram 1500’s design language and shrinks it down completely. It is bought the signature Ram grille with daring lettering, flanked on both facet by slender headlights and topped by a full-width gentle bar. The sculpted hood contains a top-mounted consumption scoop with triple-LED lighting components, borrowed from the Ram TRX – Ram’s V8 supertruck that is simply been confirmed for a comeback.
A smattering of equipment features a sports activities bar with LED lighting, an electrical winch built-in into the metal entrance bumper, facet steps, and a bed-mounted spare wheel. Talking of wheels, the idea wears 18-inch beadlock alloy wheels shod in 33-inch all-terrain tires. Behind these, the suspension of the Dusk idea is a few hardcore stuff: Fox raised suspension, the kind you’d discover on the TRX and varied Ford Raptor off-roaders.
Powertrain Unknown, However We have Bought A Unhealthy Feeling About Its American Prospects
On this phase, the engine issues, however Ram hasn’t divulged that data simply but. It additionally hasn’t acknowledged whether or not that is constructed on a brand new platform or one shared elsewhere within the Stellantis line-up. And that is the place we have dangerous information for you. Whereas it is not explicitly acknowledged, we have a reasonably robust inkling this new Dakota is a company cousin of the Peugeot Landtrek (silver automobile beneath). The lifeless giveaway is within the form of the glasshouse, particularly the kick-up of the decrease window line of the rear door and the form of the C-pillar garnish.
The 2 are lifeless ringers, and nearer inspection reveals even the creases on the doorways are similar. Which means the Dakota might use the identical 2.4-liter turbo four-cylinder – a Mitsubishi-derived motor – to supply as much as 207 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque, not dangerous numbers for the phase.
The Landtrek is not a real Stellantis product, although, and is a platform-engineered pickup based mostly on the Changan F70 – a midsize truck from China. Instantly, that guidelines out this particular model of the Dakota from ever making its solution to the USA for 2 causes. One, any truck constructed outdoors of the US is instantly subjected to very large tariffs due to the Rooster Tax, however compounded with 100%-plus taxes on components coming from China, this Dakota could be prohibitively costly within the US.
We love the design of this new Dakota. That, mixed with a reputation carrying vital weight with the American viewers, would make such a truck successful in America. However the one approach this may work is that if the manufacturing model have been considerably tailored and inbuilt America. Given Kuniskis’s prior remarks about needing a midsize truck for the US, we will not rule it out as a risk. However from the place we’re sitting, it is extremely unlikely that is the Dakota we’ll see in America.
Ram has confirmed a brand new midsize pickup truck is coming in 2027, which can be assembled on the Belvidere, Illinois, plant that beforehand constructed the Jeep Cherokee. Nevertheless it most likely will not be this one.