Ram CEO Wishes for Passenger Van, But Where’s That Midsize Pickup?

As a pickup and commercial vehicle brand, could Ram soon add a passenger van to its lineup? Don’t laugh. New CEO Tim Kuniskis said he wants one in an interview with Automotive News last week.

This comes on the heels of mediocre sales performance in 2024, with a drop of 19 percent in the U.S. and 21 percent in Canada. The refreshed and improved 2025 Ram 1500 has underwhelmed so far despite significant price cuts on most models.

Kuniskis previously worked as the head of Dodge and he’s very familiar with the Grand Caravan, which was the brand’s best-selling product before it was discontinued in 2020. Now as a member of Chrysler, the Grand Caravan is being overshadowed by the Pacifica. But you know what? The pair managed to outsell the Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna and Kia Carnival in the U.S. last year.

Photo: Stellantis

Would a third minivan within the large Stellantis portfolio be one too many? Quite possibly. We have a hard time imagining anything other than a clone of the Pacifica/Grand Caravan. What’s the point for families?

Some will say that Ram could simultaneously cater to small entrepreneurs, but that’s precisely the job that used to be filled by the ProMaster City (pictured below), which bowed out in 2022 as the brand shifted its focus to the full-size ProMaster. In fact, there is not a single compact cargo van left on the Canadian market.

Photo: Ram

If you ask us, the success of a Ram passenger van would depend entirely on affordable prices and a more rugged design appealing to soccer moms and dads who don’t necessarily want to be seen driving a minivan. Why not introduce a proper SUV, then?

Now, with all this being said, the more pressing issue for Ram and Kuniskis remains adding a midsize pickup to the lineup, one that would be cheaper than the larger Ram 1500 but also the Jeep Gladiator.

In November 2023, the deal between Stellantis and the United Auto Workers included the promise to build a new midsize pickup in Illinois starting in 2027. The Gladiator is currently built alongside the Wrangler in Ohio. Since a “new” pickup was mentioned, we assumed the Ram 1500 would be getting a little brother at last.

That plan has since been postponed but is still on the table, the automaker has said. Kuniskis told other media that a Ram alternative to the Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger and the like is “desperately” needed but not coming in the immediate future.

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