Aurelia Butler

Ram reintroduced the Hemi V-8 to the 1500 pickup for the 2026 model year, and the demand is high.Parent company Stellantis said initial units of the Hemi-powered trucks are spending just five days on dealer lots before being purchased.Typically, the fastest-selling cars in the United States spend 20 to 30 days at dealerships.Ram refreshed its popular 1500 pickup truck for the 2025 model year, dropping V-8 engines in favor of Stellantis’s new “Hurricane” twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-six. While the six-cylinder is more powerful and more efficient than the old V-8, Ram owners love the sound of eight cylinders working in harmony, so Ram brought back the 5.7-liter engine for 2026. So far, the move seems to be working, with Stellantis reporting that the initial versions of its Hemi-powered truck are flying off the lot. Sales of the light-duty Ram 1500 in general rose 10 percent year-over-year in the third quarter of 2025, with 44,349 new trucks finding homes from July to September. That puts the light-duty 1500 up 4 percent through the first nine months of 2025, with 143,264 sales. Unfortunately, Ram doesn’t break out sales by powertrain, but the automaker did provide a small tidbit in its latest sales release to show that customers are clamoring for the revived V-8 trucks.RamRam touted strong demand, with “dealerships reporting initial units selling in just five days on average.” While we don’t have exact data to compare how long it’s taking dealers to move non-V-8 units, it’s still an incredibly low number of days for a new vehicle to spend on a dealership lot. Typically, the fastest-selling cars in the United States take between 20 and 30 days to find a buyer, so five days is a great indication that there is a lot of interest in the new Hemi-powered Rams. This rate will likely slow as more V-8 trucks start to arrive at Ram dealerships and the company’s production starts to catch up with demand. Stellantis also stated that, so far, “orders have exceeded production.” RamStill, it’s a positive sign for Stellantis, showing that listening to its customers is starting to pay off. After sales of the electric Dodge Charger Daytona have struggled to pick up steam, Stellantis is set to launch the gas-powered six-cylinder models this fall, and we wouldn’t be shocked to see the V-8 return to the Charger in a bid to boost sales even further.More on the Ram 1500➡️ Skip the lot. Let Car and Driver help you find your next car.Shop New Cars Shop Used CarsCaleb Miller began blogging about cars at 13 years old, and he realized his dream of writing for a car magazine after graduating from Carnegie Mellon University and joining the Car and Driver team. He loves quirky and obscure autos, aiming to one day own something bizarre like a Nissan S-Cargo, and is an avid motorsports fan. More