It’s been a tough year for Stellantis, with CEO Carlos Tavares’ sudden resignation representing the pinnacle of those difficulties. The product side has struggled as well, with its core American brands posting disappointing sales figures to round out 2024. Ram’s sizable sales drop in the States is particularly daunting for the group, given the truck’s recent major refresh. The timing of these hurdles coincides with the axing of the storied Hemi V-8 engine line, but Ram’s recently re-appointed CEO Tim Kuniskis isn’t ready to blame the struggles on the decision to axe the powerplant quite yet.
Truck buyers and Mopar fanatics alike were quick to critique Stellantis’ decision to replace the venerable (and massively popular) Hemi V-8 engine with the twin-turbocharged Hurricane inline-six. Even with a significant performance bump provided by the 3.0-liter in both Standard and High Output spec, a contingent of fans have made it clear they do not approve. That’s despite the fact that competitive models like the Toyota Tundra exclusively offer a six-cylinder powertrain, and Ford F-150 sales are dominated by the EcoBoost family as well. Kuniskis did note that despite that sales difference, Ford does continue to offer the 5.0-liter V-8 to its customers. He believes that freedom of choice is very important to American buyers.
“Honestly, the bigger issue is not Hemi vs. T6,” Kuniskis said in an interview with Road & Track. “The bigger issue is we took away a fundamental American thing. Americans love freedom of choice more than anything. When you take away their freedom of choice and tell them ‘you must take this,’ they revolt. Whether it makes sense or not, it doesn’t matter. It’s anti-American, you’ve taken my flag away, f*** you. It doesn’t mean they are making an irrational decision, maybe they are, maybe they aren’t, I don’t know. But we as Americans, that’s what we do.”
That doesn’t mean that Ram is firing up a Hemi program as we speak. Kuniskis is open about the fact that the refreshed Ram 1500 has struggled to reach regular series production figures, owing to some difficulties at the plant. The executive highlighted multiple massive changes made to the vehicle at one time, including the new powertrain and electronic architecture, as reasons for these struggles. Furthermore, while the plant has moved to get simpler trim levels out the door as soon as possible, those aren’t the high-value models that drive larger profits.
“When you look at something as absolutely critical—like if I made a mistake on a Challenger, I made a mistake and we move on and we fix it,” said Kuniskis. “You make a mistake on that [Ram], that’s a problem. That’s a Wall Street problem, that’s a board of directors problem, that’s a problem… I can tell you the sales suck. So the immediate first reaction is it must be because we don’t have the Hemi. Then I’m like no, that’s actually not true, because I don’t actually have any of these trucks in the trims I’m supposed to have on the market.”
Ram pickup sales totaled just 104,454 units across the half-ton and HD model lines during Q4, down 7 percent from that period in 2023. The brand’s year-end figures are more distressing, with 2024 sales totaling 373,120 units, marking a volume loss of 17 percent. For comparison, Ram moved 444,926 units in 2023. Every single one of the brand’s current model lines saw a sales decline of at least 16 percent in 2024, with overall sales down 19 percent year-over-year. For the first time in a decade, the Ram 1500 lost its spot as the third best-selling vehicle in the United States, which now belongs to the Toyota Rav4.
Kuniskis didn’t flatly deny the possibility of a Hemi V-8 returning to the lineup, but said such a decision would need more data behind it. As models like the RHO and Tungsten start to roll out, Ram will have a better grasp of the reception to the truck. If things remain on a similar trajectory (or get worse), it’s almost certain that Ram will make some changes. Such a decision could also be made easier if President-elect Trump follows through on his proposed adjustments to emissions requirements here in the States.
“I have to know what the performance of this truck is first before I say Hemi is a problem,” said Kuniskis. “Because I hear the noise, I hear ‘Hemi, Hemi, Hemi, Hemi, Hemi,’ but is it real or is it noise because you took it away. We’re all like that. You took something away that I love, and I love it too.”
Is a reborn Hemi V-8 all it will take to help get Ram back towards the top of the truck market here in the States? Let us know what you think in the comments down below.
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