When Stellantis shifted from using ZF nine-speed automatics, it idled the Tipton Transmission Plant which had made them. Now, the Tipton county council have announced that the plant will be used by IRH Manufacturing LLC to make solar panel cells. The company is investing $500 million into the plant, $175 million of which is going … Read more
After dropping the price of the Compass and Wrangler, Jeep has turned to the 2025 Jeep Gladiator, which will start at $39,995. The manual transmission appears to be gone, with a standard eight-speed automatic. Every model has been “price repositioned.” The only open-air pickup truck, the Gladiator has best in class V6 towing and payload … Read more
Last week’s recalls covered several automakers, but Stellantis did not have any entries. Two weeks ago, Ram and Jeep had one recall each. This past week, Mazda recalled 2024-25 forward cameras in the CX30, CX50, and 3; Volkswagen brought back 2021-24 ID.4 electrics because the doors may open for no clear reason; and Porsche had … Read more
Jeep has announced the changes for its 2025 Wrangler, including the 4xe. The 392 Final Edition will continue into 2025, which is somewhat unexpected. A new paint color, named just ’41, joins the palette; it was inspired by olive-drab paint as used in the original military jeeps, which were created by American Bantam and powered … Read more
According to Automotive News, Chrysler is sticking to its guns with regard to…
The United Auto Workers union (UAW) has expressed concern about rumors of the Dodge Durango leaving Jefferson North for foreign shores, announcing that it was filing a charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). The UAW believes changing the production of the Durango would be a violation of their contract, which included language promising … Read more
Orders have just officially opened for the 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T and Charger Daytona Scat Pack, 400V battery-powered large muscle cars with 496 hp and 404 lb-ft of torque in the R/T and 670 hp and 627 lb-ft in the Scat Pack. Both include $600 in charging-station credits with Free2Move or an at-home Level … Read more
Chrysler did not celebrate its first anniversary in January, though the marque’s first cars found happy customers in January 1924. FCA US is likely to officially celebrate Chrysler’s anniversary in 2025, when it has a wider variety of cars to sell. That’s also the year Chryslers at Carlisle has chosen. The founder of the first … Read more
Stellantis is a global company, with engineering sources from countries around the world—not just the three headquarters in France, Italy, and the United States. Fiat itself already had engineering centers in India and Brazil, but their work could be handled in relatively large chunks. Recently, FCA US engineers have reported being called back to work … Read more
Yesterday, Stellantis national dealer council president Kevin Farrish accused Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares of short-term decision making which lowered the value of Dodge, Ram, Jeep, and presumably Chrysler. The company dramatically raised prices during the post-COVID car shortages, and is only now slowly dropping prices on some models, such as the Compass, as sales have … Read more
American dealer network leaders have publicly taken Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares to task for “short-term decision making” which they claim that, by boosting the company’s stock price, increased his own compensation. The company had dramatically raised prices during the post-COVID car shortages, only to find customers defecting to other brands and dealership stock cluttering up … Read more
With its release of new information about plant upgrades, Stellantis confirmed that it will make a new GME-T4 EVO engine, which includes improvements made to the GME engine series for the Hurricane Six. The company promised production of the GME-T4 EVO before the year is over; it will be made at the Dundee plant alongside … Read more
Stellantis announced that it is retooling the Sterling Heights plant to build the Ram 1500 REV and Ramcharger electric and range-extended pickups alongside the gasoline-powered versions. In addition, Warren Truck is being upgraded to make “electrified” (probably hybrid) Jeep Wagoneers, and Dundee is being set up to make battery trays and beams. The Ram 1500 … Read more
Today, the NHTSA announced that Ram would be recalling over a million 1500s because the antilock brake module could knock out the stability control entirely; and that Jeep was recalling around 33,000 Jeep Wranglers and Wagoneers from multiple years because the instrument panel could blank out. The gauge cluster failures might be due to the … Read more
Engineers at Jeep, or FCA US to be more accurate, have patented a removable window system which lets windows be removed with relative ease. The patent, filed on January 31, 2023, and published on August 1, 2024, comes to us via Tomaz at Allpar.com (who found it at MotorAuthority). The basic idea is that windows … Read more
The Hurricane Six has been honored by Ward’s in their Ten Best Engines list, a global award, for the second year in a row. This is the eighth consecutive year FCA or Chrysler power has made the list. Ward’s specified the engine as used in the 2025 Ram 1500, where it is rated at 540 … Read more