A last-minute burst of electric car sales brought their market share to 13.6% for the year, dropping their overall share from 15.7% in 2023. One reason was the rise of hybrid-electric vehicles, which gained by nearly 20 points, moving from 3.4 million to 4.1 million sales. Plug-in hybrids also suffered, dropping by a larger amount … Read more
Hal Sperlich, who rose from engineering into product planning to take charge of the Ford Mustang and later convinced Lee Iacocca to make the Plymouth Voyager and Dodge Caravan, has passed on at the age of 95. He was one of several members of the Chrysler Corporation “Dream Team,” which led the company’s many process … Read more
Stellantis has brought Jeep, Ram, Dodge, Chrysler, and Fiat to the Detroit Auto Show with spacious displays, the Halcyon concept, and a brand new Dodge Charger and Jeep Wagoneer S. While Camp Jeep never left the car-show circuit, Stellantis essentially withdrew everything else from shows last year. At the same time, Ford brought out its … Read more
The base price of the Jeep Wagoneer S remains a mystery, but the well equipped Launch Edition of the new 400V electric crossover, with a single-speed gearbox, has shown its price. It’s important to realize, though, that the Launch Edition is very well equipped with options many would not normally pay for. The Launch Edition … Read more
The Bantam “Jeep” and original Dodge Power Wagon both faced the same problem when they were being tested: mud could get trapped in the wheel wells, stopping the unusually mobile trucks in their path. Eventually, they came up with different wheel-well designs to resolve the problem. Still, heavy snows can get packed into the wheel … Read more
Recently, a Stellantis executive suggested that a V8 might return to the Dodge Charger, replacing the more powerful turbo straight-six “Hurricane” motors. Ironically the Power Wagon used a flat-head straight-six engine. Social media pundits have proclaimed that the reason for lower Ram sales was the lack of V8 engines, never mind that prior-generation Ram V8s … Read more
The 2025 Ram 2500 was only just announced, and the Jeep Wagoneer S is reportedly still on its way to dealers, but already company employees and retirees are being offered attractive lease rates on both—and on the Charger Daytona Scat Pack BEV. The lease rate on the two electrics is 1.0%, while the Ram 2500 … Read more
Dodge Charger Daytona electric cars are starting to leave dealerships for their new owners, who have been spotting them driving around and sitting in driveways, despite rumors that all are “bricked” on arrival and then every 500 miles, or that only 82 have every been sold. Greg, who took the photo above, wrote that he … Read more
When the Ram Trucks brand announced the details on the refreshed 2025 Ram Heavy Duty lineup, they only shared pricing information for the base level 2500, but thanks to the consumer website, we have full pricing detail for the newest heavy duty Ram Trucks. You can get all of the pricing information, including option pricing … Read more
Recently, Mopar Insiders reported on a leaked supplier notice that project C6X had been terminated. This led some to speculate that Chrysler had dropped its large crossover, scheduled now for a 2026 launch, but it’s possible there is another explanation. Erik Latranyi, posting at Allpar.com, believes that the cancelled project was the Airflow, whose demise … Read more
Over the last few months, it seems that just about every automaker has recalled cars due to rear-view camera failures—as though an outbreak of camera flu has been making the rounds. This week, it’s Tesla’s and Aston Martin’s turn. Tesla recalled the 2023-25 X and Y, and the 2024-25 3 and S, while Aston Martin … Read more
The head of Chrysler, Christine Feuell, told CNBC that the 101-year-old marque’s future is safe, with new product in 2026 including a refreshed Chrysler Pacifica and a large crossover. Earlier statements about Chrysler suggested the marque would be fully battery-electric, but this plan seems to have been ejected. An electric minivan is still planned, but … Read more
Chrysler Canada had their worst sales year for some time, with an 18% drop from 158,237 to 129,945 cars. Every marque was down, but the Canadian-made Chrysler line was the least affected, falling by just 1% though the 300 left production. The Chrysler Grand Caravan saw sales double to 4,643, though Pacifica took a 22% … Read more
Chrysler today celebrated the twentieth anniversary of Chrysler’s Stow ’n’ Go system for putting minivan seats away into the floor—a feature still standard on the Pacifica Select and Limited, even with all wheel drive models. The brand chief, Chris Feuell, said, “Chrysler brand will mark its 100th anniversary in 2025, and that Century of Innovation … Read more
Most of the recalls this week came from Ford, which like seemingly every automaker in the world is recalling cars for rear-view camera images that don’t show up. This week, it’s Ford’s turn with the 2019 Fiesta, Flex, and Lincoln MKT, and Land Rover’s turn with the 2022-23 Range Rover. Ford adds to that with … Read more
Who was the best for 2024? There is no complete way to answer that question, really. Lexus likely makes fine profits with its relatively low sales, while Mazda’s sales have been rising but profits don’t seem to be following. We can, though, look at different segments and see who is leading them in U.S. sales, … Read more