Stellantis made it through the week without any recalls, but competitors were not so lucky.There’s an old joke that the most dangerous part of the car is the loose nut behind the wheel, but 2023 Camrys (including the Camry Hybrid) actually has loose nuts holding the wheel on. Well, in any case, the wheels may … Read more
People judge brands along many dimensions—for example, Reliability, Safety, Value, Styling, Performance, and Comfort. Brands position themselves in two ways—through the product itself, and through marketing. For example, Dodge has hammered on Styling and Performance in its marketing for over ten years—and has honed its product lineup on both dimensions….
Mopars rose in the JD Power initial quality (IQS) score, which measures the rate of problems in the first 90 days of ownership. Every Stellantis brand rated in the United States went up against last year’s numbers (shown below), bucking the industry trend. No former-Chrysler or current-Stellantis marque performed as poorly as Tesla.
Ram has released its 2024 Rampage. The name used to adorn a front wheel drive pickup version of the Plymouth Horizon/Dodge Omni, which in turn was based on the SIMCA which Volkswagen used as a model for the Golf/Rabbit.The Rampage is based on the same platform as the Jeep Compass; development reportedly only cost $270 … Read more
Jeep announced pricing for the more-comfortable 2024 Jeep Wranglers, which have new convenience features and moderate changes to the front-end styling. The 4xe powertrain is now available on every model except the Sport (and Rubicon 392, which comes with the 392 cubic inch Hemi V8).
The price of the Sport appears to be unchanged from 2023 models, while Willys and the most popular model, Rubicon, have gone up somewhat. The 2024 Wranglers are better outfitted than they were in 2023, but Jeep faces new competition from the Ford Bronco and will be tackling the Volkswagen Scout in a year or three, as well. [details]
After a few good weeks, Stellantis is dominating the U.S. weekly recall list with three types of incidents (Ford and BMW tied at #2).
First, 2014-2020 Jeep Grand Cherokees and 2014-19 Ram 1500s with VM diesel engines can stall out due to bad crankshaft position sensors; their tone wheel can delaminate, so the engine can’t time fuel injector pulses to the camshaft movement. This is recall 23V411, expanding a prior recall from 2020 (20V-475). This covers 80,629 trucks and Jeeps in the United States, as well as an unknown number elsewhere…
According to a story by Vince Bond, Jr., in Automotive News, Stellantis dealers can no longer order gasoline-only cars “on spec” in states following California air pollution rules (“CARB states”). Nearly all the CARB states are in the Northeast or coastal West.
Dealers can still order vehicles for customers—just not “on spec.”
To balance supply and demand, dealers in other states can no longer buy plug-in hybrids from Stellantis without customer orders. Some customers are crossing state lines to buy cars off the lot—both gasoline-only and PHEV versions.
The federal government is pushing automakers towards an electric future, but the regulations both punish and reward – we just never hear about the rewards – issued as credits – which can actually reduce future and past CAFE fines. As a result, the 2024 Dodge Charger EV could actually help the company save money on fines from the 2021-2023 model years.
CAFE Fines And Credits Explained
When an automaker fails to reach the goals of the CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) program, the automaker is fined. FCA was fined $77 million for failing to meet CAFE requirements for the 2016 model year and $79.4 million for 2017, followed by a fine of $235.5 million for coming up short for the 2018 and 2019 model years.
Merchants Fleet has ordered 12,500 Ram ProMaster electric commercial vans, to be delivered over several years, according to Ram. To be launched later this year, the van will be Ram’s first fully electric vehicle to hit the market; the Fiat version is already sold in Europe. The next electric Ram is the 1500 REV.Merchants Fleet … Read more
Ram has slowly but surely been working on global sales since its birth as a separate marque. Most recently, Stellantis used a motocross race in Germany, the MXGP, to publicize the Ram line and unveil the Ram 3.6 liter V6 eight-speed mild hybrid powertrain in Europe—a powertrain already the default choice in North America.
Ram actually announced the powertrain on June 7, with 305 hp and 365 Nm of torque; it is available in the Ram 1500 Big Horn, Laramie, and Rebel in Europe. The system has a 430 watt-hour battery pack with 48-volt current during launch and gear shifts, with a 3kW DC to DC converter so it uses a 12-volt starter motor.
The NHTSA issued its weekly summary of recalls today.
Ford had an interesting fire recall on the 2020-23 Escape, 2022-23 Maverick, and 2021-23 Lincoln Corsair: engine failure can cause a fire. When Fords with the 2.5L HEV or PHEV engines have an engine failure, they can vent oil and fuel vapor which can be ignited by hot engine or exhaust parts, causing a fire.
The Wrangler 4xe has quickly become FCA US’ most popular plug-in hybrid. It has two advantages for buyers—it can save money compared with the base V6 gasoline engine, despite having about the same rated mileage, because it can be driven for a while on pure battery; and its has V8 acceleration which comes close to the all-out (and pricier) 392 V8.
The EPA’s ratings are 20 mpg with the base V6 and 21 mpg with the hybrid setup, but this excludes the all-electric portion. (The Jeep Wrangler has never been known as one of the best cars for gas mileage.)
EPA testing found 22 miles of electric power; they rated it at 49 MPGe. As a pure hybrid, though, the combined figure was 20 mpg. The diesel remains the most fuel efficient engine, with a combined 25 mpg (and $2350/year estimated fuel costs), but its acceleration is a far cry from the quick 4xe, and diesel fuel is pricey….
Early rumors claimed that the Ram Rampage to be made in Brazil used a heavy-duty version of the Fiat Toro’s independent rear suspension with rear disc brakes, a front wheel drive based chassis and powertrain (2-liter diesel or 260 hp 2-liter turbo gasoline engine, both coupled to a nine-speed automatic) and eventually take ethanol, since … Read more
A quarter of a century ago, Daimler took over the growing and highly profitable Chrysler Corporation in a move which proved disastrous to the American company. Chrysler at the time was fairly truck-and-Jeep-heavy in sales, but that meant that the company was well positioned for the rapid American move to pickups and crossovers.How can we … Read more
Jeep announced pricing for the more-comfortable 2024 Jeep Wranglers, which have new convenience features and moderate changes to the front-end styling. The 4xe powertrain is now available on every model except the Sport (and Rubicon 392, which comes with the 392 cubic inch Hemi V8).
The price of the Sport appears to be unchanged from 2023 models, while Willys and the most popular model, Rubicon, have gone up somewhat. The 2024 Wranglers are better outfitted than they were in 2023, but Jeep faces new competition from the Ford Bronco and will be tackling the Volkswagen Scout in a year or three, as well. [details]
If you are a Dodge enthusiast waiting to buy a 2023 Challenger SRT Hellcat with the six-speed manual transmission, we have some good news. The manual transmission option has finally been added to the dealership order bank system for the supercharged models, after having only been available for Challenger R/T and R/T Scat Pack models earlier in the model year. The six-speed transmission is still not listed on Dodge.com in the Build & Price section, but it is officially available through dealerships. [But this is not the end of the story—read on!]
