While most automakers are using existing brands for electric vehicles, GM has taken created not one but two new brands—Hummer, which was brought back from the dead, and BrightDrop. Chevrolet is still making battery-electrics, too, including a forthcoming pickup with impressive specs and a dull name. BrightDrop is GM’s new brand for electric light commercial … Read more
Erick Lawrence of the Detroit Free Press, or Freep as it’s commonly known, recently did an interview with Chrysler CEO Christine Feuell. She referred to a future expansion or revitalization of the brand, which dates back to 1924. The original Chrysler car was built off pioneering work by Frederick Zeder, Owen Skelton, and Carl Breer … Read more
Mopar is now selling WiFi-capable 240-volt chargers for owners of Jeep® 4xe vehicles and the Chrysler Pacifica PHEV; available in plug-in or hardwired versions, they can provide a full charge in a little over two hours, around six times faster than 120V chargers. Adding WiFi gives owners the ability to monitor and control charging via … Read more
During Stellantis’ electric car information day, faint line drawings of a Charger and a Ram were shown. We don’t know if these represent actual prototypes or CATIA diagrams, or just artists’ renditions; but if one takes the rear view of the Charger and connects some dots, artist YBNormyl suggests, one can come up with something … Read more
We have talked a great deal about the return of the Dodge Direct Connection program, which includes high performance upgrade packages for the Challenger Hellcat and Redeye. The “standard” Hellcat has two package options (Pre-stage, Stage 1) which lead to 757 horsepower, while the Redeye also has a Stage 2, lifting the output to 885 … Read more
Before the Jeep Wagoneer was released, some believed that the Grand Wagoneer would not simply be a higher-trim version with a much bigger engine, but that it would be longer, as well. That would fit the tradition of Grand Caravans, Grand Voyagers, Grand Cherokees, and, of course, Grand Wagoneers (though the last one was complicated—see … Read more
People out there are getting scared by reports that the government is secretly causing the current vehicle shortage, to try to force everyone to drive cars they can control with secret kill switches and computer overrides. The story claims that the government will be able to track you by your car. The story is spread … Read more
Some time ago, neighbors reported strange odors coming from the new Mack Avenue assembly plant, officially named Detroit Assembly Complex – Mack. The state investigated and found that there were indeed odors, from this and one other plant. Stellantis hired a specialist company to do source sampling, and over 13 days, that company took 152 … Read more
Months ago, Automotive News published an article noting that analysts thought the Belvidere (Illinois) plant, currently home of the Cherokee, would switch to making the company’s forthcoming BEVs around 2023, and that Brampton (Ontario) would lose its large-car monopoly and possibly be converted to making batteries. The article worried (and still worries) people working at … Read more
We’ve seen the results of the muscle truck race, where the Challenger beat Mustang (U.S.) sales for all of 2021 in a surprise upset. But what about two bigger, if less visible, sellers? In pickups, Ford invariably takes the #1 spot, partly due to a wider variety than other automakers. #2 was fought over by … Read more
With buyers desperate for cars this past year, FCA US dealers seem to have successfully cleared out their remaining supplies of unpopular or long-discontinued cars, which might have been used as loaners or demonstrators, or for internal purposes. The dead-but-sold cars include nine Jeep Patriots (only one was sold in 2020, but nine were sold … Read more
FCA Canada reported a 10% fall in sales over 2021, compared with 2020. Jeep gained in retail sales by 20% for the full year. The Grand Cherokee, which recently added an “L” three-row variant and a new generation of the two-row model, gained in fourth-quarter retail sales by 56% to be the best selling full … Read more
Where is the Ram BEV? According to Carlos Tavares, CEO of Stellantis, “It is now being adjusted every month to improve our specs and capabilities.” The adjustments are being made based on what competitors are doing; the target date for production is in 2024. He reminded the audience that 2021 was a record year for Ram—for … Read more
During a meeting with Morgan Stanley, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares clarified today’s Amazon-Stellantis announcement. The deal with Amazon has three major facets: Stellantis will leverage Amazon’s operating systems in infotainment (an effort which will include the Foxconn partnership); Stellantis will use Amazon’s cloud services (e.g. AWS); The company will sell Amazon “a significant number” of … Read more
Stellantis reported retail sales similar to 2020, and total sales around 2% below 2020. FCA US LLC had sales of 411,513 vehicles in the fourth quarter and 1,777,394 vehicles in all of 2021. By comparison, GM sales dropped by 13% year to year; Honda rose 9%; Hyundai rose 22%; and Ford has not yet reported … Read more
GM’s massive 43% drop in sales caused the company to lose its position as the best selling automaker in America—for the first time in 90 years. While Hyundai/Kia ended the year with a sales record in the United States, reaching sales of 701,416 cars across the company’s three brands (Genesis is the third), the Korean … Read more