In production since October 1980 for model year 1981, the Ram 1500 featured V8 options until recently. The last example of the breed equipped with a HEMI rolled off the assembly line in 2024, for the 2025 model year update saw the introduction of the 3.0-liter Hurricane as the replacement of the 5.7-liter Eagle.
This change has understandably alienated quite a few enthusiasts and prospective customers. The disappointment is most obvious when you glance over FCA US LLC's Q4 2024 sales report, which lists the Ram P/U with 16 percent worse year-to-date sales compared to 2023. More specifically, the light- and heavy-duty lines moved 373,120 units compared to 444,926 back in 2023.
The rather messy situation is only a microcosm of what is going on at Stellantis, the Franco-Italian-American group that made a ton of very poor decisions under the leadership of Carlos Tavares. In addition to discontinuing the 5.7er from the Ram 1500, the Netherlands-based automaker couldn’t make a case for a V8 in Dodge's all-new Charger. Instead, the aforementioned inline-six engine will have to suffice with up to 550 horses to its name, in combination with a torque-converter automatic and AWD.
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