When Ram announced the return of the 5.7-liter Hemi V-8 to its light-duty pickup early last month, we figured it would prove popular with potential buyers. Now, thanks to a recent Stellantis release detailing Q2 sales results, we have some numbers to show just how well-received the move was.
According to Ram, within 24 hours of the June 5 announcement detailing the Hemi’s return to the light-duty lineup, the truck builder received more than 10,000 preorders for the eight-pot pickup. Customers do indeed enjoy freedom of choice (and choosing a V-8), it would seem.
Ram brand CEO Tim Kuniskis noted at the announcement that the company expected the take rate for the Hemi V-8 to land somewhere between 25 and 40 percent. If we take Ram’s stated number of light-duty deliveries in Q2, which was 51,848, the preorders suggest a take rate slightly below 20 percent as of right now. However, we’d expect that number to climb as the trucks become available on dealer lots.
Those Hemi-powered Rams are going to be loud and proud—on a few levels. Each new Hemi-powered Ram 1500 will get a fender-mounted “Symbol of Protest Badge” on it, depicting the Ram head logo attached to the meaty block of a Hemi V-8. Along with the stylistic treatment, all those V-8-powered Rams will also come equipped with the GT Sport exhaust as standard, so they’re going to be rowdy right from the factory—certainly intentional on Ram’s part, and something we suspect buyers will enjoy.
Now, it bears repeating: The Hemi-powered Ram 1500 isn’t the most capable of the lineup, despite its 395 hp and 410 lb-ft ratings. Rams equipped with both versions of the Hurricane twin-turbo inline-six, the standard-output and the high-output version, still clip the Hemi in terms of horsepower and torque (420 hp and 469 lb-ft and 540 hp and 521 lb-ft, respectively). Hemi-equipped Rams can tow up to 11,470 lbs, while payload ratings stretch as high as 1750 lbs. Hurricane-equipped Rams best these figures—towing tops out at 11,600 lbs, and payload gets as high as 2360 lbs.
Still, in the same way that manual transmissions have been supplanted by automatics when it comes to outright performance, yet we love them anyway, the Hemi V-8 will remain the emotional choice for Ram light-duty truck buyers. And we’re more than cool with that.
Give your customer what they want. But that idea was on the guy that ran the place last. Those are probably not customer orders, they are dealer orders getting trucks on hand for customers to choose from.
While they are at it, bring back the old Challenger, with the same trim levels as before. Call it Challenger “Classic” or “Heritage”. Cause no one wants the 5000 pound electric replacement either.
