Tim Kuniskis is Retiring from Stellantis

Most of our articles about executive changes don’t get much attention, but this morning, Stellantis issued a press release that is certain to rock the automotive world of many members of the Brotherhood of Muscle – as it has been announced that Tim Kuniskis is retiring from Stellantis. Kuniskis will retire on June 1^st, 2024, vacating his roles as the head of the Dodge brand and the head of the Ram brand. His role with Ram will be filled by Christine Feuell while the new head of the Dodge brand will be Matt McAlear.

“I want to take the opportunity to warmly thank Tim for his passion, commitment and contributions to Stellantis and in defining the vision of the future electrified Ram and Dodge brands. I wish him well in his retirement,” said Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares. “I am confident that Chris will continue the work of Tim in leading the iconic Ram brand. Matt will bring a fresh perspective, while continuing to draw on the heritage of our iconic Dodge brand and leading the transition of the brand toward a sustainable future.”

Kuniskis will be missed by Dodge, Ram and Mopar enthusiasts far more than the average brand boss, but that is because he has always been so much more involved in the brand’s public activities. Recently, he was a main character in the debut videos of the new Dodge Charger and the new Ram 1500 RHO, but he has really been the face of the Dodge brand since 2015 – leading the company through “The Hellcat Era”.

Kuniskis fought all sorts of corporate red tape to bring the Hellcat program to production when many other executives disagreed with the idea of bringing a 707-horsepower V8 to unlimited production. He fought even more corporate roadblocks when working to bring the 2018 SRT Demon to production, creating that car with almost no budget, and of course, he was instrumental in introducing the Last Call cars – including the 1,025 horsepower Dodge Challenger SRT Demon 170.

Tim Kuniskis’ drive and passion for the brand and for high performance vehicles helped lead the Dodge and Ram brands (and Jeep, indirectly) to the head of their respective performance classes. Without him and his persistence in dealing with the corporate red tape, we may not have ever seen the supercharged Hemi come to production and without that, the world may not have ever gotten the Dodge Hellcat cars, the 2018 Demon, the Demon 170, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk or the Ram TRX.

The Dodge Brotherhood of Muscle was introduced under the leadership of Tim Kuniskis, but more importantly, he helped create the vehicles that helped that Brotherhood grow over the past decade. Good people are set to take his positions at Dodge and Ram, but it will be hard for anyone to fully fill the shoes of Tim Kuniskis. He has become a superstar among the Mopar community and he will be missed at press conferences and public events.

Tim Kuniskis, if you happen to read this, I want to thank you for everything that you have done for the Brotherhood of Muscle on the behalf of the Mopar community.