According to Stellantis’ investors report, Chinese company Leapmotor plans to be part of China’s export offensive, but won’t be reaching the United States any time soon.China is already the world’s largest exporter of cars, but few are sent to the United States; Volvo is the best known brand owned by a Chinese company which exports … Read more
With a tentative contract out to members for a vote, Stellantis plants and warehouses are preparing to return to full strength; but 8,200 Unifor workers walked off the job in Stellantis’ Canadian plants after weeks of trying to negotiate. The union had set a Sunday night deadline for resolving the conflict.The strike has already ended … Read more
Stellantis and General Motors have each agreed to increase UAW pay by 25% over the next four and a half years, according to Bloomberg (article available with 99¢/month subscription). GM included cost-of-living increases as well, but perhaps due to other, non-financial concessions, the union has agreed on a deal with Stellantis but not GM. Final … Read more
Leapmotor may provide Stellantis with a path to a type of hybrid vehicle used for decades—by railroads: the series hybrid.Leapmotor, a Chinese startup, has an electric extended-range vehicle (EREV) which uses a small internal combustion engine to recharge the battery. The engine is not connected to the wheels. In locomotives, a diesel engine functions solely … Read more
Back in August, the Dodge brand had a sort of ceremonial delivery of Jay Leno’s 2023 Challenger SRT Demon 170 on the day of the Woodward Dream Cruise, but since then, there has been little news of the 1,025-horsepower muscle cars shipping out to dealerships. That is because since then, none of them have shipped … Read more
Stellantis paid $1.6 billion to buy 20% of the Chinese EV maker Leapmotor, which includes two of their five board seats and 51% of a joint venture to make EVs for global sale. Leapmotor will use Stellantis’ production facilities for this deal.A Stellantis twin motor setup from underneath, which is largely irrelevantAccording to TechNode, Leapmotor … Read more
Ford’s attack on the Jeep Wrangler will resume in earnest as the Bronco plant returns to full production, with a UAW strike now in the rear view mirror (assuming workers vote their approval of the deal).While Ford leaders had said the company would be bankrupted by anything beyond their prior offers, the company quickly went … Read more
In a bizarre relaunch of the Fiat 500 in the United States, Fiat brand announced the launch of the new Fiat 500e as an aside to a press release about the creation of FIAT House, a luxury set of condos or apartments in Fort Lee, New Jersey.The “innovative residential property,” built by UNLMTD Real Estate, … Read more
The Toledo Blade reported back in August that Stellantis would be shutting down the Dundee Engine plant, temporarily laying off 611 workers, to transition to making new Peugeot-based 1.6 liter engines.
The plant is currently down for this retooling. Informal sources claimed that, in addition to the 1.6 liter engine, the new 2.0 liter four-cylinder would be made in Dundee—on the same line, which would be a fairly sizable achievement for flexible manufacturing. The two engines share virtually nothing in common, with different cranks, bore spacing, and so on.
The Hurricane Six was reportedly created using the combustion chamber from the 2.0 liter GME engine—essentially creating a new block around that chamber. However, in a recent interview, Micky Bly, head of Stellantis propulsion, said that the Hurricane will spawn a new 2.0 liter four-cylinder engine. …
Mark Olson’s father was chosen to live with one of the Ghia-built Chrysler turbine cars during its customer evaluation program, sparking a lifelong interest in Chrysler and turbine cars. Mark, who was 16 at the time, was able to drive the car, preserving his memories later at turbinecar.com. He was Jay Leno’s guest for a time … Read more
For all the crisis talk around the UAW strike, particularly from leaders of Ford, one might think that American automakers and Stellantis were in danger of bankruptcy. GM’s leaders don’t seem to agree; they announced no change in their dividend, set at 9¢ per share for the last five quarters (since 8/30/2022). Stockholders as of … Read more
Today, the UAW started striking the only plant to make the “DT” Ram 1500. The company is still making heavy-duty models in Mexico and prior-generation “DS” Ram 1500 Classics in Warren, Michigan.The union said that Stellantis had “the worst proposal on the table regarding wage progression, temporary worker pay, conversation to full-time, cost-of-living adjustments, and … Read more
Three new vans were unveiled today. They have new cockpits and control interfaces, aiming at higher safety and productivity, and stress-free driving. Driver assistance features include LED headlights.The second-generation zero-emissions systems were fully designed and built by Stellantis, including new regenerative braking systems.Compact vansThe new compact van series was customized for each brand. Opel/Vauxhall has … Read more
e-PTO, Electric Power Take Off, lets contracts use the internal 400V battery (the traction battery normally used for forward motion) to run their equipment. It can be set for up to 17 minutes of power when the vehicles is off, e.g. to run refrigeration gear, or can provide longer-term power while the vehicle is on. … Read more
Stellantis today announced the renewal of its entire van range at the same time, including a fully electrified van range—which has been the case in Europe since 2021. In the EU30, Stellantis had a 43% share of the electric van market—the largest of any company.The company is releasing its second-generation battery-electric (BEV) technology this year, … Read more
