For the first time since the 2011 model year, Ram will build a midsize truck starting in 2027.
The news comes from a slightly unusual source — not Ram itself, but the United Auto Workers union.
The union announced late yesterday that Ram “has committed to build the next generation Dodge Durango at the Detroit Assembly Complex and to reopen the Belvidere Assembly Plant in 2027 and allocate a new midsize truck.”
The union secured this commitment from the company as part of the contract agreement that ended a 2023 strike that affected all three major domestic automakers. But the plan had been in doubt since. Ram parent company Stellantis has struggled with oversupply issues and profitability problems since the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares resisted the commitment but resigned last month.
Former Ram chief Tim Kuniskis returned to the company shortly after Tavares left and has hinted that a midsize truck was likely in the weeks since his return.
We can’t be sure it will bear the Dakota name. However, the company built a midsize truck under that name from 1986 to 2011, and auto enthusiasts still have some affection for the Dakota badge.
The midsize truck market could use a new entry. Cross-town rivals Ford and General Motors still build midsize trucks but offer a more limited lineup than they did last time the Dakota competed for sales. The Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colorado, and GMC Canyon are all sold only in quad-cab-short-bed configurations, as is the Jeep Gladiator.
Only the segment-leading Toyota Tacoma and slow-selling Nissan Frontier can be had with longer beds, shorter cabs, or both in 2025.