New Ram Rumble Bee muscle truck has 777 horsepower and a top speed of 170 mph

DETROIT — Stellantis plans to launch a line of what it calls “muscle trucks” for its Ram brand despite high gasoline prices in the United States due to the war in Iran.

The automaker said Wednesday that Rumble Bee pickup trucks will feature V-8 engines, special parts and designs, and a range of performance specifications.

A top-of-the-line SRT Hellcat model equipped with a supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi V8 engine will develop 777 horsepower, a targeted top speed of 170 miles per hour and other metrics that rival some sports cars.

“It’s absolutely a ‘hold my beer,’ watch this, push the chips in an instant,” Ram boss Tim Kuniskis said before a truck passed him during a media event at the company’s Chelsea Proving Grounds in Michigan. “Welcome to the era of muscle trucks.”

Despite the national average gas price of $4.56, Kuniskis said he thinks it’s a “critical” time to launch the trucks as full-size pickups have expanded into the luxury and off-road segments. He also said there was a lack of traditional muscle car offerings, with Stellantis and other automakers focusing on fully electric vehicles.

“We’ve been looking at electrification, and that trend has changed. That trend will change, too,” he told reporters after the trucks were revealed. “I’d like to believe that when this thing hits a showroom floor, I’d like to believe that gas prices will be back in line.”

Kuniskis also noted that while the volumes of its top models typically represent a small portion of sales, they are typically “three times the margin compared to an average vehicle” and act as flagships to draw attention to the brand.

“It’s still a very good deal, but it’s your ultimate halo effect to sell others,” he said.

Halo vehicles are often iconic products with unique designs and high-performance parts. They are regularly used to draw attention to a nameplate or car brand.

Kuniskis declined to disclose his volume expectations, but said the company should be able to “easily” recoup its investments in the new trucks, which share many components with the brand’s current trucks, with the addition of specific performance parts.

Stellantis has not released pricing for the trucks, which are expected to arrive in U.S. dealerships starting this fall. Kuniskis compared the price of an “entry-level” 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 muscle truck to a current “well-equipped” Big Horn model that can top $60,000 and said the SRT model could be a new halo alongside the $100,000 TRX off-road performance truck.

The new muscle trucks, which will be quad cabs with rear doors smaller than most full-size pickups sold in the United States, will be built at the Stellantis plant in Saltillo, Mexico.

The lineup will launch with the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 model later this year, followed by the Rumble Bee 392 and Rumble Bee SRT in the first half of 2027.

Stephanie Brinley, an auto analyst at S&P Global, said she doesn’t believe Ram will sell significant volumes of the muscle trucks, but she thinks they should be able to attract attention to the brand, especially by retaining current customers.

“The SRT is kind of an interesting counterpoint to the off-road version, but, again, it’s not going to be high volume,” she said. “The combination of all of this can create some excitement in the brand.”

Kuniskis, who also oversees the company’s other U.S.-focused brands, has become well known for using high-performance models as marketing tools to draw attention to brands, such as when he introduced Hellcat models to Dodge.

Performance trucks are not new to the auto industry, but they have often been short-lived. Ram, formerly part of Dodge, offers off-road performance trucks such as the Rebel and TRX. About 20 years ago, it also offered Rumble Bee models and a pickup that shared a V-10 engine with the Dodge Viper sports car of the time.

“No amount of market research will tell you that what we’re doing is a good thing. It’s not even a safe bet. (…) It’s been done before and it’s never worked,” Kuniskis said at the event. “But we think the last time this was done the strategy was not the right one.”

The muscle truck lineup was announced on the eve of Stellantis’ first investor day under CEO Antonio Filosa. It’s also Kuniskis’ first investor day since returning to the automaker last year after a seven-month “retirement.”

Stellantis’ investor day is expected to focus regionally on key brands such as Jeep and Ram in the United States and Fiat and Peugeot in Europe, detail how executives plan to cut costs and explain how the company intends to return to profitability after a net loss of 22.3 billion euros ($26.3 billion) last year.

Filosa is touting the return of Ram’s Hemi V-8 engine, which was canceled under former CEO Carlos Tavares, as a positive catalyst for investors despite high U.S. gasoline prices.

Kuniskis said Hemi production continues to increase, but demand still exceeds supply.

“It’s accelerating; it’s not yet where we need it to be,” he said, adding that the mix is ​​”significantly better” than it was earlier this year.