Since the 1960 Valiant shook up Chrysler’s product line, resulting in changes to every other car’s brakes, axles, and front suspensions, Chrysler has done well when it set up skunkworks or other arrangements that led low-level employees have more of a say. Indeed, the revolutionary changes of the 1990s centered mainly on empowering groups to … Read more
The signs are up at Auburn Hills and other headquarters. The old FCA and FCA US email address are already being replaced by stellantis.com. But who is running the show? It appears that Stellantis is using matrix management, with both regional and brand leaders. For the Mopars, we have Christian Meunier running global SUV / … Read more
The Hellraisin 2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock shown here is owned and driven by Ron Silva. Silva was one of the first 2018 Demon owners to get into the 9-second range while routinely being one of the quickest stock Demon owners on the track. Silva has sold his Demon and moved onto the gorgeous … Read more
Groupe PSA (Peugeot S.A.) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) have now merged; the stock appears tomorrow and Tuesday, respectively, on Euronext and Mercato, then on the New York Stock Exchange, under the symbol STLA (Stellantis). In other news, Stellantis will be the first automaker to use Amazon’s Alexa Custom Assistant, which can be tailored to … Read more
Canoo came to my attention due to a report that Apple had talked with them about making electric vehicles together. Of particular interest to me was their electric minivan. Like Rivian, Canoo has created a modular platform for making electric vans, cars, and trucks. Like the old body-on-frame cars, which long ago were jettisoned for … Read more
For years, some buyers of 2.4 liter engines have been afflicted by oil use. Not all the engines had problems, which was even more puzzling; manufacturing tolerances are extremely tight, so how could it be that one person would do oil changes every ten months or 10,000 miles and never have to add any, while … Read more
Some reacted to news of FCA’s 2020 sales shortfall by pointing out that dealers were short of cars—a situation that is not likely to be improved by the global microchip shortage, which has shut down the Toluca and Brampton plants. Toluca makes the Jeep Compass and until recently produced the Dodge Journey and Fiat 500; … Read more
Based on information posted online, the Dodge brand produced 6,543 Challengers and Chargers with the supercharged Hellcat Hemi during the course of the 2020 model year. This figure does not come from FCA but rather, an inside source who has responsible for all in-depth Hellcat production numbers over the past five years. In other words, … Read more
This morning, the Jeep brand took the wraps off of the long-rumored three-row Grand Cherokee, but this is not simply the current SUV with an extra row of seats. The 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L is all-new and it is far more than just a few more seats. Rebuilt from the ground-up, the Grand Cherokee … Read more
An email from the Jeep brand confirmed what many of us have known for some time now – that a three-row Grand Cherokee is coming to a showroom near you. The email, shown below courtesy of Scott of JeepGarage.org, doesn’t actually state that it is a three-row Grand Cherokee, but the details leave no question … Read more
Jeep has less than a 1% market share in India, where former Willys licensee Mahindra makes inexpensive vehicles that look remarkably like the Wrangler and other popular 4x4s. Jeep’s drive to increase sales is not helped by its global premium-brand strategy. To try to change their current status as a rare niche vehicle, FCA is … Read more
While many racing associations canceled their 2020 season due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the crew from the Modern Street Hemi Shootout series managed to hold their entire season. They had to make some date changes to work around local emergency restrictions on crowd-based activities, but in the end, Dan VanHorn and his team were able … Read more
Jeep is finally set to sell the Grand Wagoneer and Wagoneer in the second quarter; based on the Ram, as the original Wagoneer was created with the Gladiator pickup, it should set new standards of luxury for Jeep, while, hopefully, maintaining strong off-road capability and durability. Jeep is also getting a brand new Grand Cherokee … Read more
According to the Kokomo Tribune, the United States won’t be pumping out 2-liter turbo engines until the last quarter of 2021, rather than starting out in the next few months. The reason is that the transformation of a transmission plant into an engine plant has been delayed. That left FCA trying to get production out … Read more