Ram 3500 Reviews

The popularity of one the most controversial vehicles types in Australia has plummeted so far in 2025, with sales of American-style jumbo trucks like the Ford F-150, Toyota Tundra and Ram 1500 driving off a cliff.Loved by those who buy them, but ridiculed by plenty who don't, the big trucks have been accused of being "big, dumb utes" that exploit tax loopholes by The Australia Institute, been threatened with higher parking charges, and been flagged by some MPs as candidates for higher registration fees.And now sales are hurting. Some 640 examples of the Toyota Tundra, Chevrolet Silverado, Chevrolet Silverado HD, Ford F150, Ram 1500, Ram 2500 and Ram 3500 were sold across Australia in April, bringing the group's year-to-date tally to 3010.That's down 26.2 per cent on the single month result in April 2024 (867 sales), while the year to date total has fallen 13.8 per cent, from 3490 over the first four months of 2024.But because, at this time last year, Toyota was delivering very few Tundras as part of a customer testing program, their results (up 171.4 per cent month-on-month and 99.3 per cent year to date) are actually propping up the segment's percentages. Remove the Tundra sales, and the segment for the remaining brands has actually fallen 32.7 per cent month on month, and 18.8 per cent year to date.Interestingly, the numbers in 2025 are even smaller than in 2023 (787 month and 3043 year to date), despite there only being four models in market then, compared to the seven being sold today.It spells hard news for all brands, with significant remanufacturing investment required to convert the models from left- to right-hand drive, but perhaps none more so than Toyota, who – after a six-year program to develop the vehicle for Australia – only put the Tundra on sale in November last year.At the time, media was told production was being ramped up to five vehicles per day, or up to 110 per month and 1300 vehicles annually. Last month, just 76 found homes, pushing the year-to-date tally to 299 vehicles - an average of 74 per month, or 888 annually, should the trend continue all year.We asked Toyota about the Tundra's slow start in February, and the brand told us "It’s very early days, but we are pleased with the response to Tundra since its official launch in the middle of November. Our forward orders are in line with our forecasts and we look forward to expanding the line up with the introduction of a new premium grade in Q2 2025."Clearly it's not just Toyota struggling to move the big trucks at the moment. The most popular Ram, the 1500, was down 18.1 per cent for the month and 24.9 per cent year to date, the Chevrolet Silverado was done 18.3 per cent for the month (but is up six per cent for the year), the Ford F-150 is down 69.9 per cent for the month and 35.9 per cent for the year.

The Ram 1500 Limited is the flagship of the facelifted pick-up range.

The $141,950 Ram 1500 Laramie Sport is the entry point to the facelifted pick-up line-up, now that the previous entry level Bighorn is still to be facelifted for Australia.

The Ram 1500 has become a firm favourite among Aussie fans of massive US-style pick-up tricks. But has dropping the V8 in favour of an inline six-cylinder unit had a negative or positive impact on the overall package?

You might not be too late for a Ram V8 - but you better be quick and your options might be limited.

It may be faster and more powerful than the ‘Hemi’ V8-powered model it replaces but the big question is whether the in-line six-cylinder MY25 Ram 1500 maintains its well-established ‘tough truck' aura with two fewer cylinders under the bonnet.

US pick-ups are all the rage in Australia and with a full-sized Toyota Tundra a fresh arrival, fans of these big utes are about to be even more spoiled for choice.

News this week broke that Standards Australia have begun a push to have our parking spaces enlarged to better fit the giant, mostly American vehicles now crowding our roads.

The beefed up V8-powered Ram 1500 TRX exited stage left in 2024.Now reports from the US claim it is making a comeback and will be more powerful and pumped up than ever before.US publication, Mopar Insiders, said the Ram TRX will make a comeback in 2026 with V8 power rather than the twin-turbo inline six-cylinder grunt in the new 1500.The outlet reported it could use a reworked version of its former 6.4-litre Hemi Hellcat V8 that ups power to 535kW or it could possibly get the uprated Hellcat Redeye engine that pushes power to a whopping 594kW.The report stems from a leaked email from a Dodge dealer in the US, which also showed the 5.7-litre V8 would be returning to the line-up. That engine made 291kW and 556Nm in the previous generation 1500.The move to re-install the Hemi V8 in the fast selling American pick-up truck is washing away one of the changes enacted by controversial former Stellantis boss Carlos Tavares.Stellantis is in a world of hurt as sales dip in most major markets and a return to its old ways is believed to be the way out of the hole Ram and Jeep find themselves in. Ram’s new boss Tim Kuniskis has been very open about his desire for a new product and a return to the glory years.Kuniskis said he wants a smaller ute to rival the Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux. It is likely it’ll be called the Dakota.It is likely that the new mid-size ‘Dakota’ would be made exclusively in left-hand-drive, but local factory-backed 'remanufactured' conversion is now very popular. RAM Trucks Australia General Manager Jeff Barber previously said, "A mid-size ute is on our wish list for RAM in Australia. We think it would be a great fit for Australia."

Ram’s global CEO, Tim Kuniski, is so excited about the brand’s upcoming range-extender pick-up it is rushing to release it ahead of its fully-electric sibling.After it was announced in 2023, the Ramcharger 1500 will launch in the US in the second half of the year, with order books poised to open before the middle of 2025.The launch of the battery electric version will be pushed back to 2026 – the Ramcharger’s initial launch date.“I think this is really going to be a secret weapon in the industry,” an enthusiastic Kuniskis said, according to Motor1.“It's why we wanted to share it with you as soon as possible. It's not a PowerPoint slide. This thing is real, and it's coming fast."The Ramcharger 1500 uses a Pentastar 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine generator to charge its 91.8kWh battery pack that in turn powers two electric motors that are solely for propulsion.In addition to a 102-litre petrol tank, the brand claims it will deliver a staggering 1100km of driving range once all battery and fuel capacity is exhausted.Power and torque are quoted at 482kW/827Nm, and despite it nearly weighing an almighty 3500kg, Ram claims it will still sprint from 0-60m/ph (0-98km/h) in just 4.5 seconds.To accommodate the much larger powertrain, Ram said it has widened its STLA Frame undercarriage by eight inches compared to a regular 1500.Three drive modes will be available: Electric+, E-Save and Eco. Electric+ will only use petrol power once the battery is fully depleted, which takes about 226km. Once that happens, the petrol engine will kick in to power the generator that powers the front and rear axle electric motors.The petrol motor generator can add some power to the battery if it dips below 50 per cent charge but cannot fully charge it.In E-Save mode, the engine will turn on and maintain the battery at its current state of charge while driving. It is designed for when electric-only operation is required later, such as entering an urban zero-emissions zone.Eco, meanwhile, takes the most energy conservative approach by reducing available horsepower and dialling down the amount of power spent on air conditioning.At no point will the petrol engine power the wheels – it only powers a built-in generator that powers the wheels. If at any point, however, you require the full range of power and torque, the engine and its petrol generator will be active.Pricing hasn’t been confirmed yet, although Ram said it is aiming for parity with the new petrol 1500 in the US, which will be powered by the new V6 Hurricane engine.The new petrol 1500 hasn’t launched in Australia yet, so it is difficult to make an accurate estimation on pricing, although the previous V8 Hemi 1500 started at around the $120,000 mark.Ateco, Ram’s Australian distributor, has previously said it is exploring the Ramcharger for Australia. CarsGuide has contacted it for a further update. An update to the story will follow with a response.