Known for his severe cost-cutting, Carlos Tavares, Stellantis’ first chief executive officer, is apparently going to leave office earlier than expected. Tavares had told reporters he would remain through 2026, and the company only announced the start of its search for a replacement in October. Less than one hour ago, Bloomberg’s Albertina Torsoli, Daniele Lepido, … Read more
The Jeep Commander, sold for some time in Brazil, is going on sale in Mexico and other countries. While it has the same name as China’s lengthened Cherokee, this is more like India’s Jeep Meridian; it’s based on the Compass. The new Commander sells for around 735,000 pesos—roughly half the price of the Grand Cherokee … Read more
When the 2024 Dodge Durango Hellcat was announced, many readers complained that they wanted something between the 5.7 Hemi and the extreme Hellcat. Today, on Thanksgiving Day, Stellantis announced that these people could get what they wanted, the 2024 Dodge Durango SRT 392 AlcHemI, honoring the final 6.4 liter high-performance engines. A version of the … Read more
Jeep had two more recalls this week, both affecting 2024 models. The Jeep Wrangler can have inoperative trailer lighting, but only 34 vehicles in the US (and presumably a handful elsewhere in the world) are affected. This only affects vehicles made from January 24 through March 18, 2024, with the tow package but with the … Read more
Jeep leader Antonio Filosa announced at the Los Angeles Auto Show that Jeep is adding a hybrid-electric gasoline-powered car in 2025. This is not a surprise move for everyone, though it seemed to have surprised a few people…
Ford and GM dominated the recall list this week, though they were not alone. Ford had incorrect airbag deployments on the 2024-25 Escape, oil leaks from a badly installed engine cup plug on the 2024 Expedition/Navigator and 2024-25 F-150, and missing airbag warning labels on a wide variety of vehicles from 2018 through 2025. In … Read more
Some more-experienced (older) readers may recall, among the very early Internet car sites, one named Tailfins which covered a variety of then-modern and classic cars, with special sections for slant six, V8, and 2.2/2.5 four-cylinder power. (Don’t look for tailfins-dot-com, it’s long since moved on to a domain squatter.) The site was set up by … Read more
General Motors told news organizations that it was laying off a thousand people around the world, mostly salaried workers with some hourly people. The layoffs were announced by email. According to MSN, some of the layoffs were due to poor performance, while others involved changing priorities. GM has been cutting back on some projects, such … Read more
The only full retrospective of the Chrysler marque, covering everything from Maxwell’s birth to the present day, has just been released in an inexpensive black-and-white format. By taking out the photos and otherwise leaving the book intact, the price could be dropped from the usual $32 down to $19.24. The text size and basic formatting … Read more
Advance Auto is closing 700 stores, according to the company, 500 of which are directly owned and 200 of which are independently operated. They have not yet released the list of locations. CNN Business noted that many retail operations are shutting locations after their “sugar high” of 2021-22, when people were buying heavily after COVID … Read more
With today’s announcement of the 2025 Dodge Durango lineup, it seems that the Hurricane twin-turbo six is not going to join the big Dodge SUV. The 2024 engine lineup is still available for 2025, from Pentastar V6 to supercharged Hellcat—and the 5.7 remains between them, possibly because sales of the 2024s were insufficient to go … Read more
Stellantis has museums to celebrate the past of companies such as Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Peugeot, but some years ago Fiat Chrysler emptied out the former Walter P. Chrysler Museum in Auburn Hills to make room for Maserati and Alfa Romeo office space. In this context, the appointment of Davide Grasso, head of Maserati and … Read more
Sister publication Motales delved into Stellantis’ options for bringing a V8 back to the Ram 1500 and Dodge Charger. Each carries its own risks, costs, and benefits; some (making the “truck 6.4” optional on Ram 1500) are clearly easier and cheaper than others (using the Ferrari twin-turbo V8), and there’s at least one un-obvious choice. … Read more
Stellantis’ SUSTAINera division guarantees that its rebuilt parts are up to Mopar standards, according to a press release, which was meant to show the company’s commitment to SUSTAINera and to Mopar as a global parts brand. Rebuilt parts include items such as air suspension compressors, half shafts, transmission valve bodies, touch-screen displays, 2.4 liter engines, … Read more
Peugeot said it “built on its proven 701 km (436 mile) range” of the STLA Medium platform by driving an E-3008 electric crossover from Paris to Nice, with two recharging stops. They maintained a speed up to the highway limit (130 km/h or 81 mph). The trip from Paris to Nice is around 933 km … Read more
The Ram 2500 and 3500 were class-leading in nearly every way when they were launched, but it has been years since their last major updates. Rumors had pegged the 2025 model year for a refresh, and it is almost 2025 now—so what can we expect?