Ram reveals HiLux-rivalling Dakota concept with help from China

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The Ram Dakota Nighfall concept points to a Ford Ranger and Toyota HiLux rivalling mid-size pickup, but beneath the Ram styling lies a low-cost Chinese dual-cab ute.


Kez Casey
Ram reveals HiLux-rivalling Dakota concept with help from China

Ram Trucks has revealed a new mid-size pick-up concept, providing strong hints of what the brand has in store for a rival to dual-cab utes like the Toyota HiLux, Ford Ranger, and Isuzu D-Max.

Unlike those models, however, the new ute is not locked in for an Australian arrival. Instead, the Ram Dakota Nightfall concept points to a new dual-cab destined for South American markets.

Rather than an all-new design, the Dakota Nightfall already has connections to existing Stellantis products, with the ladder-frame chassis and a large portion of the body structure already used on the Fiat Titano, Peugeot Landtrek, and Ram 1200 already sold in Central and South America.

As is the case with those models, the frame and powertrain come from the Chinese-developed Changan F70 Hunter ute, originally launched under Changan’s Kaicene brand in 2019, and followed up by Peugeot’s version in 2020.

Ram reveals HiLux-rivalling Dakota concept with help from China
Peugeot Landtrek.

The Dakota Nightfall takes the relatively tame styling of the existing models and adds several more exaggerated Ram styling cues.

While the current Ram 1200 is an identical copy of the Peugeot Landtrek, except for a chrome-plated grille designed to fit the aperture left by the Peugeot grille, the Dakota fits in with Ram’s full-size pick-up line.

Taking inspiration from the Ram 1500 RHO and TRX, the Dakota Nightfall features marker lights on a faux-intake atop the bonnet, and a mesh grille framed by Ram’s trail-path border.

The off-road styling theme sees prominent underbody guards, boxed fenders, wide wheel arch flares, side steps, high-clearance bumpers, recovery points, and a prominent sail plane with auxiliary lighting added to the concept, which is finished in a grey-on-grey wrap.

Ram reveals HiLux-rivalling Dakota concept with help from China

A set of 18-inch beadlock alloy wheels, 33-inch Yokohama Geolandar mud terrain tyres, and raised suspension with Fox dampers give the concert its aggressive stance. The spare wheel, rather than being underslung, is mounted to the cross-bracing on the sail plane.

Although Stellantis didn’t reveal powertrain specifics, the current 2025 Fiat Titano is equipped with a 2.2-litre four-cylinder turbo diesel engine with 147kW and 450Nm, making it competitive with utes like the 2.3-litre twin-turbo Navara and 3.0-litre single-turbo Isuzu D-Max/Mazda BT-50 – all rated at 140kW/450Nm.

Less powerful 132kW/400Nm 2.2-litre and 110kW/350Nm 1.9-litre engines have also been offered in the multiple utes that use the Changan underpinnings previously, but the new high-output engine is the most likely engine option.

Set for production in Argentina, the production version of the Ram Dakota will go on sale across South America in 2026.

Ram also has parallel plans for a mid-size pick-up for the US, but unlike the Dakota, the North American market pick-up won’t be twinned with a Chinese ute, and is likely to be entirely developed in-house by Stellantis.

As for Australia, while the Dakota’s underpinnings already support right-hand drive for markets like South Africa, it’s likely the low-cost production and lower safety standards of South American markets will lock the Dakota out of an Australian introduction.

Kez Casey

Kez Casey migrated from behind spare parts counters to writing about cars over ten years ago. Raised by a family of automotive workers, Kez grew up in workshops and panel shops before making the switch to reviews and road tests for The Motor Report, Drive and CarAdvice.

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