Yes, the Ram Dakota Is Real and It's Coming Soon

• What's happening: Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis just confirmed the Dakota — formerly a Dodge — is back. 
• Why it's important: Ram needs a midsize pickup again; all of its competition has one. 
• When we'll get it: No official timeline just yet, but we expect to see it ready for 2027.

Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis just confirmed that the Ram Dakota is coming back. Previously called the Dodge Dakota, the last time one of those was built was 2011. At a media event in Detroit on Thursday, the brand's chief executive confirmed it needs a $40,000 truck in the market. When he said that, he wasn't referring to a stripped-out, cheapened version of the brand's full-size 1500 pickup. 

We now know for sure that Ram is bringing back the Dakota name and that it will be a midsize pickup. Kuniskis called reviving the Dakota name a "no-brainer," and his remarks essentially confirmed the truck's eventual price point too. Ford's Ranger starts at around $35,000, and we expect the eventual Dakota to very neatly stack with the midsizer from the brand's crosstown rival. 

Despite rumors, this is the first time anyone from the Ram brand has confirmed that a new Dakota is real and that it is definitely coming. Beyond that, not much else is known. We wouldn't be surprised to see the new turbocharged four-cylinder from the recently refreshed Jeep Grand Cherokee (since Jeep and Ram fall under the same corporate umbrella) that makes 324 horsepower and 332 lb-ft of torque, an eight-speed automatic, and part-time four-wheel drive as part of the new Dakota, however. 

We expect to learn more about the Ram's new midsize truck over the next 12 months, and it wouldn't surprise us to see them out on the road by the middle of 2027. Stay tuned because the new Dakota will no doubt be the Ram brand's most important product in a long time.