Windsor minivan plant down

Windsor plant

The Windsor minivan plant has cancelled all production for today without giving a reason. Skilled trades and employees engaged in launching new vehicles were called in for work.

The UAW has struck a number of Stellantis parts distribution centers, which will start to impact dealers trying to get service parts and may impact factories as well. However, the company has a large inventory of minivans at dealerships, so the production stoppage might not be related to the strike.  <>Read more

Clarifying the “selling the Chrysler headquarters” rumor and plan

CTC partial blueprint

Yesterday, a rumor that Stellantis was planning to sell the Chrysler Technology Center, whose campus also houses the American headquarters, made the rounds—and turned out to be both accurate and possibly a little misleading. 

The rumor was all the more credible after Ford chose to move its engineering headquarters from Dearborn to a brand new campus in Mexico, an oddly under-reported event which though covered by the Reuters news service didn’t make many front pages. Yesterday, in the absence of official comments <>Read more

2025 Dodge Challenger powered by Hurricane engine spotted, and this isn’t it

2025 Dodge Challenger first rendering attempt

A new Dodge Challenger prototype has been spotted within the company, according to a stellpower source. Over a year ago, a different source said the “LB” body Challenger would boast a choice of Hurricane straight-six or full-electric power; a “4xe” style setup is also possible, and the Pentastar V6 could well make a comeback as a low-cost entry-level engine to keep the starting price low. Another low-end option would be the Hurricane Four. <>Read more

“Branding” is cheapening Mopar brands

branding

As time goes on, FCA US (Stellantis North America) press releases increasingly refer to “the Dodge brand,” “the Jeep brand,” and so on. Maybe this made sense for Chrysler before FCA, to avoid confusion between the marque and the company (many car folk eschew the term “brand” in favor of the more dignified “marque”), but there is no Chrysler Corporation or Chrysler Group today.

There has never been any reason for Dodge people to refer to “the Dodge brand.” It’s just Dodge. Nobody thinks that Dodge City is producing cars—or Phelps Dodge—or Grace Dodge. There’s only one Dodge that makes cars, and it’s the group that used to be Dodge Division and before that Dodge Brothers… and Dodge Brothers didn’t make other brands of cars. <>Read more

Final true Chrysler Corporation vehicle to leave production

Chrysler X-M1 tank

The last vehicle engineered entirely under Chrysler Corporation, before Daimler, Fiat, and Peugeot, is getting its own last call. The Abrams M-1 tank is finally headed for a full re-engineering project, ending decades of patching and add-on upgrades, according to Military Times. 

The original Abrams tank was the only Chrysler turbine car to actually be sold; it was lauded by procurement officers for its ability to burn any fuel (though that doesn’t appear to ever have been used) and for its power and economy, relative to the only real alternative of the time, diesel. <>Read more

Mopars flunked Mozilla’s car privacy test (and so did others): Here’s the down-and-dirty and what it all means

UConnect 12 screen

Automakers including Stellantis have been rebuilding their in-car platforms using Google software. That might be one reason why so many are flunking Mozilla’s privacy test; indeed, nobody passed it.

Automakers “can collect deeply personal data such as sexual activity, immigration status, race, facial expressions, weight, health and genetic information, and where you drive,” with microphones, cameras, phones, and sensors in the car, as well as their car apps, web sites, and dealership systems. They combine the data to make inferences about buyer traits. None appear to use encryption in the car to keep this data safe. <>Read more

Electrification, hybrid-electric, and the future of Mopar performance

Ram 1500 REV frunk open

Analysis. The industry is steadily moving towards electrification and full electric (via batteries or hydrogen fuel cells) to help with emissions and fuel economy. While there are many advantages, many in the buying public have vociferously objected—and do so again whenever any article so much as mentions electric cars or, in some cases, hybrids… <>Read more