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Happy New Year! If you were watching any of the bowl games on the first, you undoubtedly saw the Ram Trucks commercial reintroducing the TRX high-performance off-road truck. It was discontinued for approximately two years, but it is back with 777 horsepower and wearing an SRT badge.
I have two thoughts about this truck’s return.
First, I like factory-built brodozers. I have liked them since the introduction of the first Ford Raptor hit the streets for the 2010 model year. I was happy that Ram offered some competition to the F-150 Raptor by introducing the TRX. Competition is always a good thing.
I understand they are ridiculous trucks. I know that most owners will never use the trucks for what they were designed to do. I also understand that trucks are getting bigger and bigger, putting more pedestrian lives at risk (and people who drive normal-sized cars).
It’s also no surprise that Tim Kuniskis, who heads Ram, brought the truck back. He has been working to correct what he thinks are wrongs that happened at Stellantis that led to his “retirement.” He quickly brought the Hemi V8 back as an option, and now the Hellcat-powered super truck is also here.
He is quickly working to leave his mark anywhere he can within the bowels of Auburn Hills.
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Since the EPA no longer has any enforcement capability, even if the return of the TRX runs afoul of environmental rules, the company won’t be penalized. It’s likely that the truck still would’ve returned even if the company had to pay a fine, because putting a Hellcat in everything has been the SOP for a while now. The only time it wasn’t was when Tavares was in charge.
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How well will the truck sell? Fuel prices seem to be staying around where they are, which would help move some of the metal. But, are people going to be able to afford a $100,000 pickup truck? Probably some. Enough to make the venture profitable? I don’t know.
The next big question is, how long will the truck be back for? It most certainly won’t face any regulatory issues as long as Trump is president, but the pendulum swing back will swing pretty hard. It probably won’t matter on a low-volume pickup truck, but my question would be what Stellantis has planned for when that happens.
The Cherokee hybrid needs to be a success. The EREV in both the truck and the Grand Wagoneer needs to work. The issues around the plug-in hybrids will need to be worked out.
The plans for Stellantis 2016 — Hellcat all the things — might work in 2026, but the company will still need to work towards the future to maintain competitiveness at the end of the decade.