Photo: KDesign AG/Behance
When it comes to pickup trucks, usually the ranks are set in stone, even across the Americas. However, there is one Big Detroit automaker (Ram, wink, wink) that does not compete at all levels, so it could easily try to stand out in the workhorse and leisure towing crowd by breaking the pre-ordained rules.
If you look at the continent as a whole, there is the North region, a buffer zone (Central America), and also the South side. And people could easily say these three are (sometimes) vastly different, including when discussing the wide-ranging automotive industry. Not only in general but also more specifically – when talking about pickup trucks, for example.
South America has always been prone to accepting just about anything if it’s slightly more affordable than the rest of the pack. As such, they still have coupe utility (Ute) models, not just regular four-door pickup trucks. In North America, meanwhile, the accent is on the full-size roster. That is why the Detroit Three and even some of their rivals run around (amok) trying to make the best heavy-duty and (light-duty) full-size models, such as the Ford Super Duty and F-150, Ram 1500 & HD, Chevy Silverado & HD, GMC Sierra & HD, Toyota Tundra, or Nissan's Titan & XD.
Only recently, customers in the United States and Canada have started to enjoy (yet) again the perks of being a wallflower. Err, sorry, I meant a unibody compact pickup truck like the Hyundai Santa Cruz and best-selling Ford Maverick, after previously their quest for a smaller pickup truck stopped at the mid-size popularity of the Toyota Tacoma and its pursuers like the Jeep Gladiator, Ford Ranger, GM siblings (Colorado and Canyon), Nissan Frontier, and Honda Ridgeline. Has anyone noticed an interesting aspect, though?
Two of the Big Detroit Three also have smaller endeavors below their profit-guzzling full-size lineups – Ford with the Ranger plus Maverick and General Motors with the Chevrolet Colorado plus Montana, though the latter is only available in Latin America. Stellantis, meanwhile, only has the Ram 1500 and HDs, along with the Jeep Gladiator, in North America. Logically, something needs to be done, right?
Well, judging by the influx of spied prototypes, the Ram Trucks division is diligently trying to close the gap with its rivals. Dubbed Ram 1200 or Dakota, according to different rumor mill sources, this pickup truck might also arrive not just down South of the border but also in the United States and Canada. However, there is a question – will it slot as a mid-size option and risk a brawl with the ultra-established Toyota Tacoma, or will it fight its way into the reemerging sector of unibody compact trucks to teach the Maverick and Santa Cruz a lesson?
If you ask the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, the question is still open for debate. And we understand the conundrum – Ram already sells 1000 and 1200 models in various parts of the world, one as a compact (a rebadged Fiat Toro for certain South American markets), and the other as a mid-size affair – also a renamed Mitsubishi Triton/L200 or Fiat Fullback, for the Middle East and Africa. So, with the resolution of which segment it pertains to still hanging in the air, Kleber Silva, the Brazil-based virtual artist known as KDesign AG on social media, has decided to have a CGI go at imagining the smaller Ram model for the Americas… somewhere in between, as far as we can tell.
Plus, maybe to sweeten the deal, the pixel master imagined both an ICE-powered Ram 1200 Dakota Turbo variant as well as its fully-electric counterpart, with the first one being thoroughly influenced by the mighty 702-hp Ram 1500 TRX and the zero-emissions sibling taking lots of styling DNA from the upcoming 2025 Ram 1500 REV. So, which one is CGI-cooler, the ‘little’ turbocharged truck that could brawl with the Range Raptor or at least the Maverick Tremor, or the battery-powered version, which may not have any competition if it (hypothetically) arrives fast enough on the market?
South America has always been prone to accepting just about anything if it’s slightly more affordable than the rest of the pack. As such, they still have coupe utility (Ute) models, not just regular four-door pickup trucks. In North America, meanwhile, the accent is on the full-size roster. That is why the Detroit Three and even some of their rivals run around (amok) trying to make the best heavy-duty and (light-duty) full-size models, such as the Ford Super Duty and F-150, Ram 1500 & HD, Chevy Silverado & HD, GMC Sierra & HD, Toyota Tundra, or Nissan's Titan & XD.
Only recently, customers in the United States and Canada have started to enjoy (yet) again the perks of being a wallflower. Err, sorry, I meant a unibody compact pickup truck like the Hyundai Santa Cruz and best-selling Ford Maverick, after previously their quest for a smaller pickup truck stopped at the mid-size popularity of the Toyota Tacoma and its pursuers like the Jeep Gladiator, Ford Ranger, GM siblings (Colorado and Canyon), Nissan Frontier, and Honda Ridgeline. Has anyone noticed an interesting aspect, though?
Two of the Big Detroit Three also have smaller endeavors below their profit-guzzling full-size lineups – Ford with the Ranger plus Maverick and General Motors with the Chevrolet Colorado plus Montana, though the latter is only available in Latin America. Stellantis, meanwhile, only has the Ram 1500 and HDs, along with the Jeep Gladiator, in North America. Logically, something needs to be done, right?
Well, judging by the influx of spied prototypes, the Ram Trucks division is diligently trying to close the gap with its rivals. Dubbed Ram 1200 or Dakota, according to different rumor mill sources, this pickup truck might also arrive not just down South of the border but also in the United States and Canada. However, there is a question – will it slot as a mid-size option and risk a brawl with the ultra-established Toyota Tacoma, or will it fight its way into the reemerging sector of unibody compact trucks to teach the Maverick and Santa Cruz a lesson?
If you ask the imaginative realm of digital car content creators, the question is still open for debate. And we understand the conundrum – Ram already sells 1000 and 1200 models in various parts of the world, one as a compact (a rebadged Fiat Toro for certain South American markets), and the other as a mid-size affair – also a renamed Mitsubishi Triton/L200 or Fiat Fullback, for the Middle East and Africa. So, with the resolution of which segment it pertains to still hanging in the air, Kleber Silva, the Brazil-based virtual artist known as KDesign AG on social media, has decided to have a CGI go at imagining the smaller Ram model for the Americas… somewhere in between, as far as we can tell.
Plus, maybe to sweeten the deal, the pixel master imagined both an ICE-powered Ram 1200 Dakota Turbo variant as well as its fully-electric counterpart, with the first one being thoroughly influenced by the mighty 702-hp Ram 1500 TRX and the zero-emissions sibling taking lots of styling DNA from the upcoming 2025 Ram 1500 REV. So, which one is CGI-cooler, the ‘little’ turbocharged truck that could brawl with the Range Raptor or at least the Maverick Tremor, or the battery-powered version, which may not have any competition if it (hypothetically) arrives fast enough on the market?
Google News