A viral image of a motor vehicle with the word "RAM" written in front of it is circulating the internet.
What are the users saying?: Users have shared the picture with the claim that in the United States of America (USA), an automobile brand has launched a new card in the name of Hindu deity Lord Rama.
An archive of the post can be found here.
(Source: Altered by The Quint)
(Archives of similar claims can be found here, here and here.)
What is the truth?: No such car in the name of the Hindu God, Rama has been launched in the USA.
The vehicle in the image is a pickup truck by the name 'RAM,' by Stellantis.
Its name depicts the male sheep and not the Hindu deity.
The name signifies a charging ram, a bighorn male sheep seen as "imposing, unstoppable, or dominant."
How did we find out?: We conducted a Google reverse image search and were led to pictures of the Ram pick-up truck.
With relevant keyword search, we found out the history of the brand.
According to a video by CNBC, the Ram logo was used as early as 1932 but it was only on the dodge motors.
According to an article by Auto Influence, Ram was a part of Dodge since 1930 when the former's logo was put on the vehicles, it was not until 1981 that the Ram name was put alongside Dodge.
In 2009, the Dodge and Ram announced their split. According to the CNBC video, this split happened when under the ownership of Chrysler, he declared bankruptcy under the oversight of the late Sergio Marchionne.
The Ram focussed on pickup trucks while the Dodge strengthened on developing performan
In 2021, the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and France's Peugot group formed a company called Stellantis and took over the brands Ram, amongst other brands such as Jeep, Maserati, Dodge, etc.
According to Forbes, this was considered a "merger of equals."
History of Ram Trucks Logo: According to the Jeff Belzer's blog, Dodge Ram had been founded in 1981 and, the logo consists of a bighorn sheep's head inside a shield.
In 1993, when Dodge finished making the first batch of Dodge Ram trucks, they revamped the logo in red, with inscriptions in both small and capital letters.
However, on the formal announcement of the Ram's logo, the inscription was an all-red logo spelt in capital letters, based on an 'air ram hood' design.
However, this design was also changed in 2009, with a three-dimensional chrome head with a gradient from light grey to lead. The charging ram logo remains almost uniform through its age.
Conclusion: There is no evidence to support that the Ram pickup trucks have been named after Hindu deity, Lord Rama. The pickup trucks have the logo of the Ram, the male sheep that symbolises strength.
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