We recently learned that part of the new contract between Stellantis and the UAW includes building a new midsized truck at the Belvidere Assembly Plant. When that news broke, many outlets suggested that the truck coming to Belvidere would be the Ram Rampage that was recently introduced for the Brazilian market. That Rampage looks a great deal like a miniature version of the popular Ram 1500 and the familiar face fits the small truck very nicely. Frankly, the Rampage looks great and when pictures of that foreign market truck hit the internet, many people in the United States proclaimed that they would like to see it sold in this market.
I would love to see the Brazilian Rampage sold here, but based on the fact that Stellantis specified that they would be building a midsized truck at Belvidere coupled with the specifications of that Brazilian truck relative to other midsized trucks sold in the U.S.A., I am questioning whether the Rampage will be the truck built at the plant that previously built the Jeep Cherokee.
The Rampage is Way Smaller than Midsized Trucks
It is hard to tell from the official images shown here, but the Ram Rampage from the Brazilian market is very small – smaller than the Ford Maverick.
The Ram Rampage has an overall length of 198 inches with a wheelbase of 117.9 inches, a height of 70.1 inches and a width of 74.3 inches.
The Ford Ranger (below) – a popular option in the midsized truck segment – has an overall length of 210.8 inches, a wheelbase of 126.8 inches, a height of 73.2 inches and is 73.3 inches wide. In short, the Ranger is about a foot longer overall and about 9 inches longer between the wheels while the Rampage is an inch wider.
The Toyota Tacoma – the bestselling midsized truck in the U.S. market by a huge margin for ages – has a length of 212.3 inches, a wheelbase of 127.4 inches, a height of 71.6 inches and a width of 75.2 inches.
Ford’s compact pickup, the hot-selling Maverick (above), has an overall length of 199.7 inches, a wheelbase of 121.1 inches, a height of 68.7 inches and a width of 72.6 inches. Ford’s compact pickup is almost two inches longer and has more than three inches of advantage between the wheels, so really, the Brazilian Rampage would be a compact pickup here in then United States.
So, will Ram introduce the relatively small Rampage as a midsized truck and try to compete with the likes of the Ford Ranger and Toyota Tacoma? Probably not. The odds are better that the midsized pickup built at Belvidere Assembly will be based on the Ram 1200 and, unfortunately, we don’t have any concrete specifications to discuss on that upcoming truck. Like the Rampage, the Ram 1200 was initially a foreign market truck, but with the boom in popularity for midsized trucks and the obvious demand from loyal Ram truck buyers, offering something a bit larger than the Rampage would make sense.
Ultimately, I still think that the Brazilian market Rampage would be a great competitor to the red hot Ford Maverick, but if Belvidere is really building a true midsized truck for the American market, the Rampage that we have all fallen in love with online is just too small.
