In this articleSTLAFollow your favorite stocksCREATE FREE ACCOUNT2027 Ram 1500 Rumble Bee SRT.Courtesy: Ram TrucksDETROIT — Stellantis plans to launch a lineup of what it’s calling “muscle trucks” for its Ram brand despite high U.S. gas prices due to the Iran war.The automaker on Wednesday said the Rumble Bee pickup trucks will feature V-8 engines, special parts and designs, and a range of performance specifications. A top-end SRT Hellcat model with a 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V-8 engine will feature 777 horsepower, a targeted top speed of 170 miles per hour and other metrics that rival some sports cars.”This is absolutely a ‘hold my beer,’ watch this, push the chips in moment,” Ram boss Tim Kuniskis said before a truck sped by him during a media event at the company’s Chelsea Proving Grounds in Michigan. “Welcome to the era of muscle trucks.”Despite nationwide average gas prices of $4.56, Kuniskis said he believes it’s a “critical” time to launch the trucks as full-size pickup trucks have expanded into luxury and off-road segments. He also said there’s a lack of traditional muscle car offerings as Stellantis and other automakers have focused on all-electric vehicles. Ram Rumble Bee launches with the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 (left), with availability starting late 2026; Rumble
Bee 392 (right) and Rumble Bee SRT (center) arrive in the first half of 2027.Courtesy: Ram Trucks”We chased electrification, and that tide changed. This tide will change as well,” he told reporters after the trucks were revealed. “I would like to believe by the time this thing’s sitting on a showroom floor, I would like to believe that the gas prices will be back in line.”Kuniskis also noted that while the volumes of its highest performance models typically make up a small portion of sales, they’re generally “three times the margin than an average vehicle” and act as halo products to bring attention to the brand.”It’s still great, great business, but that’s your ultimate halo effect to sell the other ones,” he said.Halo vehicles are often iconic products that are unique in design and feature high-performance parts. They’re regularly used to attract attention to a car nameplate or brand.Kuniskis declined to disclose volume expectations but said the company should be able to “easily” recover its investments in the new trucks, which share many components with the brand’s current trucks with specific performance parts added.Ram Trucks boss Tim Kuniskis, who also oversees Stellantis’ other U.S. brands, during the reveal of the company’s new Hemi V-8 engine-powered Rumble Bee pickup trucks in May 2026.Michael Wayland / CNBCStellantis did not release pricing for the trucks, which are expected to arrive in U.S. dealerships beginning this fall. Kuniskis compared pricing for an “entry-level” 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 muscle truck to a “well-equipped” current 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 smaller backseat doors than most full-size pickups sold in the U.S., will be built at 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 during the first half of 2027.S&P Global auto analyst Stephanie Brinley said she doesn’t believe Ram will sell major volumes of the muscle trucks, bu …
