With new truck prices under intense scrutiny, Ram CEO Tim Kuniskis says the industry conversation around affordability often misses the reality of how vehicles are priced and input costs they can’t lower.
While buyers may hope for MSRP reductions, Ram’s strategy is focused on increasing value rather than lowering sticker prices.
Why MSRPs Almost Never Go Down
Kuniskis explained that while incentives rise and fall, base prices are tied to long-term costs that cannot easily be reversed.
“Do I see us coming out tomorrow and saying we’re just going to cut all the prices? No,” Kuniskis said. “You’ve got embedded costs in suppliers, tooling, labor—all those things.”
As a result, sweeping MSRP reductions are not realistic in the current truck market.
Instead, they are focusing on adding more value in their trucks.
The Jeep Reset Shows the Playbook
To illustrate Ram’s thinking, Kuniskis pointed to the Jeep “reset,” where Stellantis repositioned the brand after years of COVID-era price escalation.
“During COVID, prices were skyrocketing, but the value proposition was going down,” he said.
Instead of cutting prices, Jeep added meaningful content buyers already wanted. And in some cases prices went down, not by tens of thousands, but by hundreds of dollars as they repositioned things.
Why Decontenting Trucks Isn’t the Answer to Lower New Truck Prices
While some enthusiasts call for minimal interiors or manual transmissions, Kuniskis said the real-world demand for those configurations is extremely small.
The reality is, looking at other brands, If you remove things like power windows, you lose customers and the price doesn’t drop that much. For example, the Ford F-150 was the last truck offered with roll-up windows and it was less than a $100 difference. Dealerships didn’t bother ordering trucks that way since customers didn’t buy them.
Ram doesn’t want to play that same game with a lower advertising price meanwhile the real-world transaction price is much higher.
That isn’t to say they haven’t tried to get a lower advertised price. The 2026 Ram 1500 Express is one example of a truck aimed at below $45,000 with just a few features. This truck is actually transacting at that price point rather than an artificially lower price point.
However, it does come with features some traditional truck guys say they don’t need. Kuniskis doesn’t see it that way. Modern truck buyers, he noted, are just as focused on infotainment, screen size, and connectivity as they are on traditional truck metrics.
It is all a game of packaging the right mix of features to attract that buyer while trying to keep the price down but still paying the costs to build the truck.
TRX and RHO Show How Value Works
The Ram TRX highlights how Ram defines affordability today. While still expensive, the updated TRX carries more standard content than before while effectively costing less than the outgoing version in its final years.
“That’s actually a price reduction,” Kuniskis said. “Lower price than we had at exit, and way more content than before.”
Trims like RHO, he added, hit the sweet spot by delivering strong capability and features without requiring buyers to stretch further financially.
If they do stretch financially and end up with a longer loan period, the new 10-year, 100,000 mile warranty on 2026 Ram trucks and vans models is intended to cover the entire loan period. That’s another way Kuniskis said they can provide value to the customer.
The post Will New Truck Prices Ever Come Down? Ram CEO Gives Surprising Answer appeared first on Pickup Truck +SUV Talk.
