Under former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares’ leadership, the former Chrysler headquarters complex in Auburn Hills, Michigan, was starting to look like a ghost town, according to insiders. The emphasis was on “global teams,” with as much as possible delegated to inexperienced engineers in “low cost countries.” FCA US (former Chrysler) engineers complained of being told … Read more
Stellantis’ American arm, FCA US, may be turning the corner, as sales have increased by 6% over the third quarter of 2024. Ram saw a 26% increase in retail sales, but some of the good news was driven by a 22% increase in commercial fleet sales. In addition, much of the gains took place in … Read more
The history of Chrysler’s first 101 years has now joined Smashwords, Kobo, and Barnes & Noble for those who don’t use the Amazon Kindle to read e-books. The book covers Chrysler as a marque; the first cars were sold in January 1924, by Maxwell Motors. In mid-1925, one century ago, Maxwell was acquired by a … Read more
This week had both good and bad news for Mopar followers. Jeep, with the USO, prepared nearly 10,000 care packages to troops for the holidays, in a volunteer event which has become a feel-good tradition. Unfortunately, the company also announced that a vendor had allowed customer contacts to leak out; no financials are in the … Read more
Reading social media posts, one would think that the Dodge Charger is the biggest failure since the “R body” Chryslers, except for one thing—they seem to be selling. The Windsor, Ontario plant that makes the Chrysler Pacifica and both forms of the Dodge Charger (EV and gasoline-powered) is putting on a third shift again, in … Read more
Stellantis appears to be abandoning Carlos Tavares’ emphasis on low-wage, inexperienced “low-wage-country” engineering teams with a hiring spree at the Chrysler Technical Center. Evan Xiao, VP of Stellantis global propulsion calibration, pointed to job postings for chief engineers and for engineers in just about every aspect of vehicle powertrain: Internal Combustion Engines Traditional and hybrid … Read more
According to Ram, two new MagnaFlow exhaust options will “unleash the howl of the 540 horsepower Hurricane High-Output Straight-Six Turbo engine.” These are the “expertly tuned SPEQ Series Cat-Back Performance Exhaust System, or customizable xMOD Series Cat-Back Performance Exhaust System.” Both, Ram, says, will provide “inspired sound, increased flow, and all-out performance.” Tim Kuniskis, head … Read more
The 2026 Jeep Cherokee is, for its size and feature list, quite reasonably priced, so how is Jeep to make money? The answer seems to be, by pushing buyers to get options and to move to higher trims, as revealed by the Build & Price system. The base Cherokee has no options other than color … Read more
The 2026 Jeep Cherokee (“KM”) has been officially released, confirming some rumors and denying others. The first rumor to go was the belief that the Cherokee would use a Punch Powertrain (DAF) DT2 dual wet clutch transmission; instead, like the KL Cherokee it replaces, the KM will use a CVT. US prices of $36,995 were … Read more
A few days ago, Stellantis accidentally posted details of the 2026 Jeep Cherokee on their web site. This morning, an independent outlet had a panoply of press photos showing the interior and exterior of the Cherokee. Since Stellpower has no embargoed information, what has been leaked becomes fair game—and that includes prices, fuel economy, power, core … Read more
Austin Gwin was puzzled by this loaded car carrier heading from Canada to the Detroit area on I-75. As you can see, it has Chargers and Challengers protected by white wrapping—in at least one case, with a hole cut through it for the Hellcat logo to peek out. One possibility is that they were being … Read more
Dodge has unveiled the 2026 Dodge Charger SIXPACK, the gasoline-powered, next-generation muscle car, with prices and US and Canadian availability…
According to an informal source, the Dodge Durango has been given another two-year extension, carrying it into the 2027 model year. The Hellcat engine is expected to return to production for the 2026 models, and is likely to return to the Ram for a new TRX and to the Durango for a new SRT model. … Read more
Some time ago, a Stellantis spokesman listed the new engines they were working on. On that list were a new big diesel, thought by many to be the rumored Cummins 7+ liter straight-six, and a new smaller diesel, possibly for the Ram 1500. While Fiat’s VM has made diesels for Ram and Jeep, over time … Read more
Carlisle Events claimed a new record for its Chrysler show—3,201 cars registered for the show field, 51 cars more than the previous Chrysler event record. That doesn’t even include the many cars inside and outside the Expo Center, which were brought by members of several clubs for their national meets. The Expo Center cars included … Read more
The Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack is currently the quickest electric vehicle from Dodge. The Dodge Challenger Scat Pack 1320 is the quickest naturally aspirated muscle car offered by Dodge during the previous generation. The video below, sent in by 1320 owner Kaleb Kelly, shows a straight line battle between the previous and current generation … Read more