Stellantis resurrects $100,000 Ram TRX V-8 pickup truck amid industry deregulation

DETROIT — Stellantis is resurrecting a V-8-powered Ram pickup truck called the TRX as the company faces fewer federal emissions regulations and enacts a U.S. sales turnaround plan for its brands.

The automaker said Thursday that the 2027 Ram 1500 SRT TRX will be available late in 2026 for around $100,000. It was first produced for the 2021-2024 model years before being canceled as the company de-emphasized V-8 engines.

The TRX is powered by a supercharged 6.2-liter “Hellcat” gas engine capable of 777 horsepower and 680 foot-pounds of torque. The automaker is calling it the “fastest and most powerful production gas pickup truck in the world,” capable of 0–60 mph in 3.5 seconds and a top speed of 118 mph.

“We had to push it to the next level,” Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis said during a recent media event. “We’re super happy about this one coming back.”

Despite relatively low sales in the past due to the vehicle’s price, the TRX is viewed as a “halo” model for the brand, or a high-end vehicle that brings attention to Ram and potentially boosts sales for other models. It’s been a successful strategy for Kuniskis, especially with the company’s SRT performance vehicles.

The return of the TRX is the latest move for the brand under Kuniskis, who has been leading a turnaround plan since unretiring from the automaker a year ago.

Kuniskis aims to make more than 25 announcements through next year. Thus far they have included returning to NASCAR with mechanical bull rides and a new race truck, resurrecting Hemi V-8 engines with a new “Symbol of Protest,” and killing a long-promised battery-electric version of its 1500 truck.

The 2027 Ram 1500 SRT TRX will start at $99,995, excluding a mandatory $2,595 destination fee that bumps the price to $102,590. The initial TRX started at $71,690 in 2020, including destination.

Ram on Thursday also announced a new 6.7-liter Cummins high-output turbo diesel engine for its 2027 Ram Power Wagon heavy-duty truck with 430 horsepower and 1,075 foot-pounds of torque.

Many of the new efforts go against Stellantis’ previous plans to discontinue gas V-8 vehicles amid more stringent fuel economy regulations and penalties. But those policies have either been weakened or disappeared under the Trump administration.

Kuniskis said the rollback should help sales, but that he was “going to do it anyway” regardless of the standards.

Kuniskis has embraced V-8 engines again, including with resurrecting the TRX, as part of an effort to revive Stellantis’ U.S. sales, which plummeted under former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares from 2021 to 2024.

During that time, the automaker — formed in 2021 through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and PSA Groupe — fell from the No. 4 automaker in U.S. sales to No. 6.

Stellantis’ sales through the third quarter of last year were 6% lower compared with a year earlier. Cox Automotive expects the automaker to finish the year with 1.25 million sales in the U.S., down 4.4% from 2024 and off from more than 2 million sales in 2020.

Kuniskis, who also oversees all of Stellantis’ U.S. brands, said both Ram and Jeep — the automaker’s most critical domestic brands — are going “in the right direction” to capitalize on growth next year.

That could be more difficult than it has been in the past, as auto forecasters such as Cox expect relatively flat or even falling auto sales in 2026. That means the automaker will have to conquest buyers from other brands.

“It’s still a strong industry, so as long as we get our piece of it, we’ll be OK,” Kuniskis said.

Jeep CEO Bob Broderdorf, much like Kuniskis, has been initiating a turnaround strategy for the company’s Jeep brand. Jeep has experienced years of annual sales declines since it hit record sales of more than 973,000 vehicles in 2018.

The “Jeep reset” plan includes repositioning the brand’s pricing, models and standard features, according to Broderdorf.

“This is going to be the last piece of the puzzle, I think, to resetting the foundation for Jeep this year and really getting into what makes it special going forward,” Broderdorf told CNBC during an interview Dec. 16. “It’s a much better Jeep.”

Kuniskis described the Jeep reset plan as “making Jeep more Jeep.”

The most recent actions essentially streamline Jeep’s product lineup into fewer models, more content and a pricing strategy with fewer overlaps, from smaller vehicles such as the Compass and Cherokee to the bigger Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer.

“The entire Jeep lineup is better,” Broderdorf said.  “I think we’re laying a very strong foundation for growth going into next year, plus the new cars.”

New upcoming Jeeps include a resurrected Cherokee midsize SUV as well as an all-electric Recon inspired by the brand’s iconic Wrangler off-road SUV.

2025 could be the year that Jeep breaks the trend and notches its first U.S. sales increase since 2018, but Broderdorf said in mid-December that the brand will be close to the goal, so it could go either way.

Broderdorf said Jeep remains profitable despite the pricing changes as well as lower sales amid the turnaround plan.

“We’re going to grow healthy,” he said. “I think this is what the brand needs. We’re going to grow.”