RAM Trucks Australia targets 12,000 pick-ups per year

RAM Trucks Australia is targeting 12,000 sales per annum Down Under. And it’s significantly upgraded its local conversion operation to deliver the capacity it needs.

Already tracking towards topping 8000 deliveries in 2022, the company’s right-hand drive conversion operation in partnership with Walkinshaw Automotive in Clayton (Vic) has increased its physical size, workforce and logistical support.

In all, over 16,000 square metres is now devoted to conversion of RAM 1500, 2500 and 3500 models.

New separate lines for the DS and DT generations have been implemented and labour numbers have grown to over 600 with multiple shifts and seven day per week operation.

Indeed, the expansion sees RAM Trucks Australia takeover the lion’s share of the real estate at Walkinshaw’s Clayton campus. Conversions of GMSV product has been relocated to a new facility in Dandenong.

Last month the operation converted around 830 full-size RAM pick-ups, the majority of which were the in-demand 1500 variants, across the DS and newer DT generations.

Insiders say the target of 12,000 deliveries per annum is readily achievable and point to 15,000 vehicles as a stretch target within two to three years.

carsales exclusively interviewed RAM Trucks International chief, Bob Graczyk, ahead of the Ateco Automotive-owned RAM Trucks Australia’s formal announcement of the capacity increase and the group’s national dealer conference.

“The [capacity of the] plant, as it is today, is around 10,000 [units per year], with basically two shifts on one of our lines and three shifts on another,” Graczyk explained.

“So, we have some ability to extend our production past where we’re at right now. Around 10,000 is where we’re at and [we have the] ability to go up to 13, 14, 15 possibly in the future.

“We first decided to look into this business about seven or eight years ago. We said ‘How big is the market?’ and, you know, we weren’t quite sure – no one had sold any full-size pick-up trucks in this market.

“There were some grey market [cars] that were coming in but we really didn’t know what to expect. And so, we were looking at three, four, 5000. We said that would be great business for us, but it’s completely exceeded our expectations.

“Ten thousand is absolutely realistic and who knows? We could even go up to 15 or 20. The acceptance of full-size pick-up trucks by Australians is just phenomenal,” the RAM Trucks International boss enthused.

Graczyk says the popularity is a blend of capability and good old-fashioned V8 performance.

“I’m a little bit biassed but I think the RAM full-size pick-up truck is absolutely awesome. It’s got all the power and the towing and the capability the customer would need to pull a boat, a horse trailer or a camper. It’s a cool-looking vehicle.

“It’s got Americana. We’re not shy to say ‘This is an American pick-up truck’. It’s got a lot of horsepower and... I think Australians in very much the same way as the United States, love horsepower. You know, it’s a culture of cars and power and I think that’s what’s helped to really grow the business.”

Graczyk believes the model mix will settle in the medium term with 1500-size RAMs accounting for around 90 per cent of local sales.

“There’s so much capability [that the 1500 delivers] from a towing and from a payload capacity. I think we’re probably looking at 90 per cent of [sales being] the 1500 version, and maybe 10 per cent heavy-duty [models]. 

“The heavy-duty is a beast of its own and that’s for people that have much bigger capability requirements. 

Currently RAM Trucks Australia offers the 1500 in both the long-standing DS generation and the latest DT. Ironically, the cheaper DS RAMs now take longer to convert from left to right-hand drive than the more feature-rich DTs.

That’s thanks to substantial tooling and OE supplier investment for the newer generation, say RAM Trucks Australia production execs.

That doesn’t mean, however, that RAM is planning to axe the DS models any time soon. Graczyk says DS models still account for around 40 per cent of local 1500 volume.

“They’ve really been a great match... And they really give us a nice, broad range of price for the consumer. We’re always looking at that [end of DS production] but we don’t have anything specific to tell.”

Sales for the DS-generation RAM ‘Classic’ remain solid in the US, suggesting its shelf-life has a way to run.

“In the United States, it accounts for a lot of work-type vehicles, so it’s more of an entry-level truck for us there. Here, it’s the entry truck for us in the RAM line-up too, but we equip it a lot more than we do in our entry level in the United States.

RAM recent registered the Big Horn nameplate as a potential additional, cheaper model to the 1500 DS line-up but Graczyk is guarded on the plans for it.

“I really can’t talk [now] to our future product decisions. But we’re always looking for opportunities to expand our line-up so that we can hit as many customers as possible,” Graczyk stated.

RAM Trucks Australia recently passed 17,000 cars sold, Down Under. In terms of total right-hand drive RAM trucks produced for the Australian and New Zealand markets, as of the end of September 2022, 18,019 vehicles have been remanufactured by the Australian operation.

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