by Eric Peters, Eric Peters Autos:

Trump’s second, J.D. Vance, said something true the other day that triggered some on the Left. Something that indicates Vance understands, which is even better.

He said that the reason Stellantis – the European car conglomerate that owns the Chrysler Dodge, Jeep and Ram truck brands – recently announced that it could no longer sell the Ram 1500 classic pick-up that was sold alongside the redesigned Ram 1500 until just recently had nothing to do with lack of market demand for the Classic and everything to do with government demands.

TRUTH LIVES on at https://sgtreport.tv/

And he’s correct.

The 2024 Ram 1500 Classic is – was – the only version of the Ram 1500 that could still be ordered with a V8 engine. If you’ve been paying attention, you already know that the 2025 Ram is only available with six cylinder engines, turbocharged to make the power of a V8 and hybridized to to comply with federal regulations.

Put more bluntly, Stellantis got rid of the V8 that Ram buyers wanted in order to placate the government – and hopes that the new inline/turbo-hybrid six will console its customers who wanted the V8.

Many preferred the Classic – and not just because it was the last new Ram that could still be ordered with a V8. It cost less – with a V8 – than the 2025 Ram costs with its optional compliance six. You could buy the former – in base Tradesman trim – for $38,705. The Hemi V8 was available as a stand-alone option that added $2,545 to the MSRP, bringing the price of a 2024 Hemi-equipped Ram Classic Tradesman up to $41,250.

The base price of the 2025 Ram is $40,275 and if you opt for the optional compliance six, which is turbocharged to make V8 power, it’ll add $2,695 to the bottom line, bringing the cost of the 2025 Ram up to $42,970 – an increase in cost of $2,595 vs. what it cost to buy a Ram Classic with a V8.

Put more bluntly, Stellantis is charging people thousands more for the new Ram with a smaller engine. Is it any wonder many people elected to buy a Classic Ram with a bigger engine – for thousands less?

Of course, that allowed for politically untenable comparisons. It made it all-too-obvious what compliance costs. It is also why – as an aside – VW was subjected to a raking-over-the-coals of unprecedented ferocity over what was sold to the public as its “cheating” on federal emissions certification tests. That was penny ante stuff; automakers routinely program their vehicle to perform well on government tests; this sort of “cheating” has been going on for decades and – until what happened to VW – it was never treated with more than a “fix that” by the federal regulatory apparat.

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