This Is the Ram Rampage Compact Truck That Just Might Fight the Ford Maverick
Although it’s only headed to South America for now, it looks awfully patriotic with stars and stripes in the taillights.
The Ford Maverick is selling very well with demand still outpacing supply, and other automakers seem interested in a slice of the pie. Stellantis and General Motors both sell small pickups abroad that could fit the bill, and now Ram has teased the latest version of its Rampage pickup in South America. It looks awfully North American, though.
Ram hasn't said anything official about sending the Rampage stateside, but when the taillights have the stars and stripes on them and we've seen a heavily camouflaged prototype running around Detroit, well, the signs are promising.
The automaker released effectively no details of the truck besides these images and the name. That moniker is more significant than you might realize, though. Dodge sold what was effectively an econobox El Camino called the Rampage in the United States in the 1980s. This new truck and that original light utility vehicle have pretty much only four wheels and a bed in common, but perhaps Dodge is betting on some Americans remembering its humble ute.
For what it's worth, Chevy also sells a small pickup in South America called the Montana. Like the Ram, it looks similar to its full-size counterpart, but Chevy has not stated any plans to federalize the truck and bring it to the United States.
Until there's official word from Ram, we won't know for sure if the Rampage is coming here. The Big Three regularly test foreign market cars around Detroit, so even if we see a lot more testing going on, it's not necessarily indicative of an imminent launch in the United States. That being said, the Maverick has little competition outside the Hyundai Santa Cruz, which is admittedly a far cry from a utility vehicle. If the price is right, Ram might just be able to bring the heat to the Blue Oval.
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