The 2026 RAM 1500 Express Black just arrived. It’s the new cheapest full-size ute you can buy in Australia.
$109,955 drive away? No, before on-roads. Still cheaper than the Ford F-150. That XLT model was sitting at $114,95. The Ram shoves it out of the number one spot for value.
It leaves the competition gasping for air, honestly.
The Chevrolet Silverado wants $134,959 to even say hello. The Toyota Tundra? You’re looking at $155,00. Even RAM’s own internal hierarchy gets shaken up. The Rebel and Laramie start around $141.00. This Express model sits well below them.
History repeats, slightly. The Express badge used to mean budget RAM back in the 2018–2024 cycle. Then the Big Horn took over at $119.950. The Big Horn didn’t survive the update to the ‘DT’ generation lineup here, so RAM dusted off the Express name again. It works.
Don’t let the sticker price fool you though. The heart of this thing is the same beast found in the pricier siblings. The ‘Hurricane’ 3.0L twin-turbo inline-six pumps out 313 kW and 635 Nm of torque. All to the four wheels. An 8-speed automatic does the rest.
Towing capacity remains stout. 4,500 kg braked. 1,014 kg payload. Numbers that don’t compromise for the sake of savings. It comes in dual-cab short wheelbase only. Like all the others.
The “Black Edition” part isn’t just a marketing label. It means a power bulge bonnet and body-colour bumpers. The details go dark. Black badges. Black mirrors. Black door handles. Black side steps. Twin black exhaust tips. Even the 20-inch alloys are black.
Six colour options. Bright White is free. Anything else—Diamond Black, Granite Crystal, Silver Zynith, Molten Red, Forged Blue —adds $950 to the bill.
Inside the cabin, things get simpler. And smaller. The 12.3-inch driver display and 14.4-inch infotainment screen from the Rebel? Gone. Here you get a 7-inch cluster and an 8.4-inch screen. It’s a downgrade in tech real estate. Cloth seats with black trim. But the connectivity holds up. Remote start. Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto still work.
The hardware scales back, but the utility does not.
Safety tech is still there, surprisingly robust. Adaptive cruise. Blind-spot monitoring. Lane keep. Rear cross-traffic alert. Cameras. Parking sensors. Trailer brake control. Rear privacy glass helps too.
The tray gets a standard spray-on liner. Spare wheel lives underneath. No soft spots on utility.
Crash safety remains a grey area, as always with American full-size trucks in this market. ANCAP hasn’t officially rated any of these pickups in Australia yet. However, RAM earned a Gold rating for autonomous emergency braking systems in 2025, so there is some institutional confidence.
Irony, or perhaps validation? Sales were strong already. Between January and April 202, RAM sold 66 of its 15s in Australia. It was the best-selling model in the class even before this specific trim dropped.
Now they’re pushing volume down further. Is that a strategy? Or just market forces taking over?
