detroit — A military-themed hype video for the 2025 Ram 1500 RHO pickup features features typical of off-roader vehicle reveals. It'll have sand and mud flying around, it'll draw air from Southern California's giant sand dunes, and it'll even feature action movie stars in the glen. Powell.
But in this clip, Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis also mentions something perhaps less expected in today's ultra-luxury pickup truck world: a low price. The new His RHO will be available to order starting Thursday and will be available to dealers in the third quarter. Prices start at $69,995, not including destination charge.
This will still make many truck enthusiasts' eyes water, but it's better than the 2024 Ram 1500 TRX, which previously occupied the top spot in the Stellantis NV-branded sport truck lineup and started at $96,590. Much cheaper. It's also several thousand dollars cheaper than the base price of its direct competitor, the Ford F-150 Raptor.
“If you look at the window sticker, you can see that this is not a bait and switch to get people excited about trucks made of unobtanium,” Kuniskis said in the video. “The new Ram RHO pushes out more horsepower per dollar than any other full-size off-road pickup.”
Ram operations director Bob Broderdorf also touted the new RHO (Ram High Output) pricing in a recent media briefing, saying it is part of the brand's broader focus on rebalancing its MSRP. It pointed out. Prices across the Ram truck lineup have recently been reduced by $4,000 to $10,000, depending on trim, he said.
“If you look at the repositioning of our entire lineup, from Warlock to the legendary Cummins diesel, the value proposition has improved significantly,” Broderdorf said.
The executive said Ram needs to focus more on the sport truck segment, which in addition to the new RHO includes the Warlock, Rebel, 2500 Heavy Duty Rebel and Power Wagon, and currently accounts for about 30% of overall Ram pickup sales. He said that it accounts for 1/2 of the total.
“Sport trucks, honestly, this has to be a must-have for us,” Broderdorf said of the rugged pickups focused on off-roading and other recreation. “It has to be something that we absolutely value and support and creates a value equation that our customers enjoy.”
The RHO, which stands at the top of its sports lineup, will be equipped with a Hurricane high-output 6-cylinder turbo engine that produces 540 horsepower, but it is no longer the large V-type 8-cylinder engine that produces 702 horsepower that was installed in the TRX. .
Ram executives promised that the smaller, lighter engine is still plenty powerful, thanks in part to some tweaks to the intake and exhaust systems. They say the truck can go from 0-60 mph in 4.6 seconds. The truck also offers a series of drive modes that utilize changes in wheel travel and damping to absorb big impacts when driving around sand dunes, while also transitioning to carving on pavement through canyons. Masu.
“This is a fast truck,” said Doug Killian, Ram's chief manager of vehicle synthesis. “When you get in the back, it feels like it has a lot more power than the standard numbers indicate, but that's because the intake and exhaust are freed up to give you more real-world power. ” Especially off-road. ”
Mark Trostle, Ram's head of exterior design, said designers didn't want to make too many adjustments because they risked offending the brand's loyalists, but the new sport truck design will change the location of the front RAM badge. He said he has changed it significantly and moved it to a higher position. The headlights were also thinner, giving the pickup an “evil-faced quality.”
Inside the RHO, you'll find more than 50 total screens, including a 10-inch passenger screen, as well as luxury features such as seats with memory settings and massage functions, and a Harman Kardon audio system.
RHO's competitors include electric vehicles like the Ford Raptor, Chevrolet Silverado ZR2 Bison, GMC Sierra AT4x and even the GMC Hummer EV, said Sam Abuelsamid, principal e-mobility analyst at market research firm Guidehouse. said. In the context of the luxury pickup truck market, the new Ram offers “pretty reasonable value,” he said.
And analysts noted that it has the same looks and comparable off-road performance as the current TRX, if not the same ultra-high-performance V-8 engine.
Abuelsamid expects Ram to bring back the TRX at some point, but it will probably be electrified to some extent.
He said the brand could create an ultra-powerful iteration of Jeep's 4xe plug-in hybrid vehicle for the future TRX. Alternatively, it could use hybrid technology like the brand uses in its Ramcharger. The gasoline engine can be started, but only acts as a generator to charge the battery.
And also, future TRXs could be fully battery-powered, perhaps utilizing the same Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust system that Dodge uses on the new Charger to provide the loud engine noise of yore. He said that there is.
Broderdorf, the Ram executive, acknowledged there is a “clear opportunity” to bring electrification to the brand's sport truck lineup in the future. He also said that TRX could return at some point and surpass RHO, but declined to elaborate.
“There's a time and a place to create something really crazy that lives up to the TRX letter,” he said. “It's not just today.”
Today, it's RHO and it's a little more affordable.
lramseth@detroitnews.com
@lramseth
