Ram’s New Small, Affordable Pickup Truck Is Coming to America and It’s Exactly What Toyota Enthusiasts Want

The Ford Maverick is most certainly trembling in its tracks from all the potential rivals it could be facing.

Front view of a red RAM truck with illuminated LED headlights and black honeycomb grille.

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Published May 22, 2026

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Updated May 22, 2026

The rush to bring an affordable, small pickup to America just got even more urgent. Ram Trucks and parent company, Stellantis, have confirmed the eventual stateside arrival of the Ram Rampage as a new compact offering.

The auto conglomerate recently held its annual investor conference, where the company shared major details about its near-term product strategy. And boy, are there a lot of juicy details to sift through and digest.

Ram’s new small Rampage will no longer be forbidden fruit

Red Ram Rampage pickup truck with black grille and off-road tires on a gray studio floor. — Small pickup and Ram fans rejoice, the once Brazil-only Rampage is coming to America.

During the conference, Stellantis shared a bucket list of new model announcements. Many include some exciting new and highly-anticipated Jeep and Chrysler models.

While each one has caught our attention, Ram’s confirmation that it will be bringing the Rampage to the U.S. really stood out.

It was just a few years ago that Ram’s Brazilian division revealed the Rampage. It’s Stellantis’s most recent small, unibody-based pickup.

Red RAM Rampage pickup truck driving off-road over rocky terrain with trees in the background. — Ram hopes to put the Ford Maverick on notice as America’s next big small truck.

The Rampage was originally designed and engineered for the Brazilian market. It has since been made available to the European market.

But after the higher-ups saw the growing demand for affordable, small pickups in America, Stellantis was finally convinced that the Rampage had more market viability outside South America and Europe.

Red RAM pickup truck driving on a dusty dirt road with trees and clear blue sky in the background. — The Rampage launched in 2023 as a 2024 model-year vehicle.

The Rampage uses the same car-based platform as the outgoing Jeep Compass. In other words, it’s not your conventional body-on-frame truck. Rather, the Rampage follows the way of the under-appreciated Hyundai Santa Cruz.

While the Santa Cruz failed to take off, Ford found success with its car-based small pickup, the Maverick. More recently, Toyota has been rumored to be considering the possibility of picking up (no pun intended) where the Santa Cruz last left off. Now, Ram is jumping on the bandwagon.

Stellantis is making moves, but it will still take some time

Orange RAM Rebel pickup truck parked in a grassy field at sunset with a person sitting on the tailgate. — Currently, the Rampage is only made at Ram Trucks’ production facility in Pernambuco, Brazil.

When can we expect the Ram Rampage to hit local dealers? According to Stellantis and multiple other sources, who were in attendance of the investor conference, the automaker is hoping to have both the Rampage and its new midsize Dakota in dealers by 2030.

That may seem like a far ways away. But it’s less than four years at the time of this news post.

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That’s because Stellantis is working around the clock to retool its production facilities to accommodate the Rampage. Currently, Ram makes the Rampage at its plant in Goiana, Brazil.

Why can’t Ram just import it from there? Well, it all comes down to geopolitical and economic conditions. Namely, the good ‘ole “chicken tax,” a 25% levy against imported light trucks manufactured outside of the US that’s been around since former President Lyndon B. Johnson imposed it back in 1964.

Silver RAM pickup truck driving on a dirt off-road trail with a RAM sign in the background. — Small pickup fans definitely have something to look forward to.

Additionally, with more automotive tariffs in place with the current administration trying to coax automakers to build their cars in America, the economic conditions aren’t favorable to importing the Rampage from Brazil.

So, Stellantis’s solution is to rework some of its US-based plants to build the Rampage in the States. It will take some time, but the patience should pay off (hopefully).

About the Author: Chris Chin is an associate editor at Gear Patrol, covering cars, trucks and anything else with four wheels. He has over a decade of experience writing news and reviews but considers himself an enthusiast first, with a passion for classics and European cars. His daily driver is a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL with nearly 250,000 miles (87,000 are his).

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