GM’s crosstown rival, Stellantis, is currently developing a new unibody pickup truck under the Ram brand, as GM Authority has covered on several occasions in the past. Now, however, GM Authority sources report that Stellantis is currently testing prototypes of the new pickup in the U.S. For the moment, GM does not offer a direct rival for the new compact Ram pickup in the U.S. or Canada, although The General does offer the Chevy Montana unibody pickup truck in Mexico and South America.
Back in 2021, GM Authority was the first to report that Stellantis had decided to cancel plans to develop a new midsize pickup based on the Jeep Wrangler / Jeep Gladiator architecture. The canceled project was set to resurrect the Ram Dakota nameplate, which was discontinued following the 2011 model year, and would have served as a direct rival to the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon.
Fast forward to earlier this year, and GM Authority published the first-ever spy shots of a new unibody pickup truck undergoing cold weather testing. The truck is codenamed Project 291, but is expected to inherit the Ram 1200 name. Reports indicate that the new unibody pickup may alternatively be called the Ram Rampage.
Either way, production is expected to kick off later in 2023 for the 2024 model year. The new Ram pickup was recently teased n Brazil, and is expected to be sold in South America. However, the engineering team behind the project indicates that a U.S-spec counterpart to the South American pickup is in the works as well.
If such a model were indeed sold stateside, it would compete against the Hyundai Santa Cruz, Honda Ridgeline, and Ford Maverick. Although GM does not sell a unibody pickup in the U.S., The General did reveal the all-new 2023 Chevy Montana in Brazil late last year, which is based on an extended variant of the GEM platform.
Subscribe to GM Authority for more GM competition news, Chevy Montana news, Chevy news, GM business news, and around-the-clock GM news coverage.
Comments
Nice red interior, so where’s the Montana?
Hard to figure out the actual size? Is it a small (Montana) or mid-sized (Ridgeline)?
Agreed. I was going to ask if they are sure this isn’t a new Dakota. it looks quite large in the Photo.
It is difficult to make a business case for a small, inexpensive, vehicle. A lot of volume is needed to provide sufficient economies of scale.
It would be nice to see a hybrid pickup from Ram. The more the merrier!
Is the Montana available to the US market through Chevy Dealerships? Where can I get some sales literature for this? Curious what the price is in US Dollars?