Ram Trucks Australia (RTA) has confirmed it has no current plans to reintroduce the hallowed Hemi V8 to its local pickup range, saying the brand’s latest twin-turbo straight-six Hurricane engine has received positive customer and dealer feedback.
Speaking with CarExpert on the launch of the updated MY25 Ram 2500/3500 Heavy Duty lineup, RTA’s Group PR Manager Joshua Dowling said the choice rests with the Ram factory within the US, where V8-powered Ram 1500s were reintroduced earlier this yr after being discontinued at the top of 2023, but the corporate is fully committed to the brand new downsized petrol powertrain.
“It’s not so simple as just switching the steering wheel to the opposite side,” he explained, in reference to the very fact the upgraded MY25 Ram 1500 incorporates a brand new electrical system to support the Hurricane engine and more advanced cabin multimedia, which might require redevelopment for right-hand drive conversion in Australia.
“It’s an entire engineering program again for us, since the Hemi now has to refer to the brand new electrical architecture, which is why they couldn’t revive it immediately within the US. They’ve needed to take a while. It wasn’t so simple as switching the factory back on.”
CarExpert can prevent 1000’s on a brand new automobile. Click here to get a fantastic deal.
Mr Dowling said there was enormous enthusiasm for the Hemi’s return within the US, but that doesn’t guarantee Australia will see it again.
“There’s also been an enormous positive response to the return of the Hemi within the US. They might decide to keep all of them, they could not make it available to us. In order we sit here today, there’s genuinely no plan to reintroduce Hemi in Australia.”
While the Hemi name has long carried emotional weight amongst buyers, Mr Dowling insisted the brand new Hurricane six, which each more powerful and efficient than the V8 it replaces, is proving to be a greater fit for contemporary demands.
“You’d expect me to say this, however the response to Hurricane has genuinely been awesome. Customers find it irresistible. Dealers find it irresistible. More power, more torque, higher acceleration. It’s about two seconds quicker zero to 100 than the Hemi, and it’s more fuel-efficient than the Hemi. The Hurricane is certainly a component of our future, and the more individuals who drive Hurricane [the more they] are really falling in love with that engine.”
Paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission, the twin-turbo 3.0-litre inline-six produces 313kW of power and 635Nm of torque in Standard Output (SO) form, as seen in Laramie Sport and Rebel variants, and 403kW/707Nm in High Output (HO) form, as seen within the Limited.
It replaces the long-serving 292kW/556Nm 5.7-litre Hemi V8 that joined the previous-generation DS-series Ram 1500 range in Australia in 2018. The last Hemi-powered (DT-series) Ram 1500 was remanufactured in Melbourne in December 2024.
Mr Dowling said the brand’s focus has shifted from nostalgia to modernisation, pointing to Ram’s ongoing investment in local manufacturing and engineering as proof of that direction.
“We’ve remanufactured greater than 35,000 vehicles here in Australia,” he said. “There are currently around 250 production employees and 50 engineers working on the Ram Trucks Australia line, and we’re moving to a brand new facility in Dandenong South that can allow us to extend volume and efficiency.”
RTA is one in all the few remaining operations performing full right-hand drive conversions at scale, with every vehicle re-engineered locally to fulfill OEM standards. The corporate builds each vehicle using greater than 400 redesigned components, requiring around 85 hours of local labour.
Although Ram vehicles are developed and remanufactured locally by Walkinshaw Automotive – with which Ram Trucks Australia has had a long-term association – it’s a Ram Trucks Australia operation.
“It’s Ram Trucks Australia that does the product planning, negotiates with the factory, and manages compliance,” said Mr Dowling. “In fact we work closely with Walkinshaw they usually are a trusted supplier – and we’ve a fantastic working relationship with them. But they work on contract to us – as they do with other brands – to finish the work we’d like.”
While RTA continues to runout the Hemi-powered, entry-level MY24 Ram 1500 Big Horn for $109,950 drive-away, Aussies waiting to purchase the newest Ram 1500 with a V8 engine are out of luck for the foreseeable future.
This Article First Appeared At www.carexpert.com.au
