Hidden within Stellantis’ billions of dollars in announced factory upgrades was confirmation that Ram’s all-new mid-size pickup will be assembled at the Toledo Assembly Complex, home of the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator.
Ram’s long-awaited mid-size truck—expected to revive the Dakota nameplate—is moving forward. Sure, Stellantis hasn’t confirmed the “Dakota” name, but we now know a few important bits about the new midsize truck. It will be a body-on-frame design, and it will be produced in Toledo, Ohio, alongside the Jeep Wrangler and Gladiator.
Moving production from the previously planned Belvidere, Illinois, facility to Toledo makes strategic sense. It keeps the new Ram close to Jeep’s proven body-on-frame assembly line and supply base, which could help the automaker cut costs and speed development.
The Wrangler and Gladiator already use a ladder-frame platform that’s easily adaptable to a Ram-branded sibling. Prior rumors had the midsize Dakota riding on a version of the STLA Large platform, something that could still happen—Ii’s unclear what platform the next generation Wrangler and Gladiator will ride on, both models will be approaching a decade old by the time Dakota production comes online. Regardless, the Gladiator is already one of the most capable midsize trucks on the market, so sharing its bones isn’t really a negative at all.
The new pickup is part of Stellantis’ $13 billion U.S. manufacturing expansion, which is expected to add thousands of jobs and several new models across Jeep, Ram, Dodge, and maybe even Chrysler. The truck is scheduled to enter production in 2028, with pricing likely to start around $30,000, just below the Ram 1500.
Ram has been without a player in the mid-size segment since the Dakota bowed out in 2011, leaving all the cake to the Toyota Tacoma, Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon, and Nissan Frontier. Powertrain details are nonexistent at this point—the automaker did announce key investments into its Kokomo, Indiana, engine facility to produce the all-new Hurricane 4 EVO engine.
The new Hurricane 4 is expected to debut in the 2026 Jeep Grand Cherokee mid-cycle refresh; it will ultimately replace the Pentastar V6 engine as the main corporate engine for Stellantis in North America. It’s not a stretch to expect a version of that engine under the hood of the Dakota when it debuts.
[Images: Stellantis]
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