After seven months of retirement, Tim Kuniskis has returned to lead Ram with a vengeance. The former CEO, now reinstalled at the helm of the Stellantis truck brand, admits the company has been \u201cgetting smashed\u201d in the market. But with a new strategy underway, Ram is aiming for a dramatic turnaround through 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kuniskis made a theatrical return, walking on stage to Eminem\u2019s \u201cGuess Who\u2019s Back,\u201d signaling a bold new chapter. Since his comeback, Ram has launched more than a dozen initiatives \u2014 from resurrecting the iconic Hemi V-8 engine to rolling out a 10-year\/100,000-mile powertrain warranty, and even rejoining NASCAR with mechanical bull rides and fan giveaways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Once commanding nearly 18% of the U.S. full-size truck market, Ram\u2019s share dropped to just 8.4% in 2024. Production delays tied to an ambitious Ram 1500 redesign hurt the brand\u2019s momentum. \u201cWe tried to do too many things at once,\u201d Kuniskis admitted. Now, he\u2019s focused on fixing what he calls a misaligned launch cadence and rebuilding the product pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ram\u2019s new roadmap includes over 25 announcements and product changes, ranging from price-accessible truck variants to potential new vehicle categories like midsize pickups and vans. Electrification plans are still in the works, but the fully electric Ram pickup is delayed. Meanwhile, a plug-in hybrid version is slated to begin production later this year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The comeback of the beloved Hemi V-8 engine has already shown promise, with 12,000 dealer orders on day one. Combined with splashy marketing campaigns like \u201cNothing Stops Ram\u201d and fan-focused events at NASCAR races, the brand is leveraging nostalgia and community to reignite customer loyalty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Retail sales are projected to rise 28% in the first half of 2025, even as total sales remain below past highs. Kuniskis isn\u2019t focused solely on volume. \u201cI want all plants running at full capacity to maximize efficiency,\u201d he said. Market share is just one part of the equation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Kuniskis wears a black band with the phrase \u201cLast Tenth LFG,\u201d a mantra he\u2019s shared with his team and dealers. It embodies his philosophy \u2014 pushing past the A-grade to something greater. The response from dealers has been positive. \u201cEverything that Tim has showed us has us convinced that the brand is on a path to get back,\u201d said Michael Bettenhausen, Stellantis National Dealer Council chair.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With Ram aiming to reclaim a market share \u201cthat starts with a two,\u201d and a slate of announcements yet to come, Kuniskis is charging full throttle into the brand\u2019s next era. \u201cWe haven\u2019t gotten to the new stuff yet,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m really bullish on the year.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Kuniskis returns with Hemi engines, bold stunts, and a plan After seven months of retirement, Tim Kuniskis has returned to lead Ram with a vengeance. The former CEO, now reinstalled at the helm of the Stellantis truck brand, admits the company has been \u201cgetting smashed\u201d in the market. But with a new strategy underway, Ram […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10772,"featured_media":12245,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[1925,1921,1923,1927,1926,1924,1922,571,1385,1919,1920],"class_list":{"0":"post-12244","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-automotive-turnaround","9":"tag-electrification-delay","10":"tag-hemi-v-8","11":"tag-nascar-return","12":"tag-pickup-truck-sales","13":"tag-ram-1500","14":"tag-ram-trucks","15":"tag-retail-sales","16":"tag-stellantis","17":"tag-tim-kuniskis","18":"tag-truck-market-share"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12244","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/10772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12244"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12244\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12246,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12244\/revisions\/12246"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12245"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12244"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12244"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalgazette.us\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12244"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}