The NHTSA announced two Stellantis recalls along with those of Ford, Mercedes, Ferrari, and other companies. At Stellantis, the previously-announced 2025 Ram 1500 recall covered nonfunctional electronic stability controls, due to improper handling of a part. At Chrysler, side curtain airbags may not work on the 2020-23 Pacifica/Voyager minivans. The factory apparently did not secure … Read more
While other plants may be shut down for a time, Trenton Engine appears to be returning to active duty this month after overproducing and being shut down. Now, unofficial word from the plant is that Trenton is going back to work this week, will start making Grand Cherokee engines again in mid-month, and may start … Read more
Richard Petty’s Plymouth Superbird is coming up for auction on January 18 in Kissimmee, Florida, courtesy of Mecum Auctions. The 440-powered car has an automatic transmission; it’s white outside and black inside, and does not appear to have actually been raced. The car was owned by Richard petty from 1982-2013, and was shown at his … Read more
Walmart is adding BrightDrop electric vans to their “last mile fleet” for home deliveries, following a pilot program. This follows Amazon’s use of Rivian vans, which are supplementing or replacing Ram ProMasters and Ford Transits; Amazon invested a great deal of cash into Rivian to make their vans a reality as well as buying them … Read more
Despite a €3 billion stock buyback program and investments in Leapmotor, Stellantis was quite profitable in the third quarter of 2024. Large incentives cleared out 80,000 vehicles from dealer inventories in the United States, 80% of the goal of dropping by 100,000. North America was the second largest generator of net revenues, coming in close … Read more
A relatively small number of 2025 Ram 1500 pickups have been recalled because a ring on the front hub may have been damaged before installation, disabling the stability control system. Fewer than 34,000 vehicles in the US are affected, along with any trucks sold in the rest of the world. If the front wheel bearing … Read more
This morning, Dodge’s Direct Connection brand took the wraps off of their news for the 2024 SEMA Show in Las Vegas, introducing a pair of crate engine blocks, two supercharger snout kits and the 3.0-liter IHI supercharger kit that many Mopar owners have been eagerly anticipating. First up, two new engine blocks are coming to … Read more
Over the years, the folks from Mopar have put modern Dodge Charger powerplants in various classic muscle cars for the SEMA Show, and that is the case with the 1967 Plymouth GTX Electromod Concept at the 2024 Las Vegas convention. The key difference, of course, is that while past Dodge Charger powerplants have typically been … Read more
The folks at the Ram Trucks brand recently hosted a first drive event for the 2025 Ram 1500 RHO at Holly Oaks Off-Road Park in Michigan and I was one of the people fortunate enough to be invited. Over the past few weeks, I have spent time in a Ram 1500 Rebel with the standard … Read more
Stellantis recently announced Free2move Charge Go with this statement: Free2move Charge, Stellantis 360-degree ecosystem designed to deliver seamless charging and energy management solutions introduces Free2move Charge Go, the second of the three strategic pillars: Free2move Charge Home, Free2move Charge Go and Free2move Charge Business. Designed to ensure that customers can easily access the most extensive … Read more
Jeep has opened orders for its The North Face brand edition, which has AWD and a new PHEV powertrain along with more impressive offroad chops. The Avenger, based closely on the Peugeot 2008, is smaller than the Renegade and made mostly for Europe. It was already selling in battery electric form and with a mild-hybrid … Read more
Matt Hagan is the only Dodge Charger driver in the NHRA Mission Foods Drag Racing Series Funny Car Championship Chase and with two events left on the season, he is currently in third place, 168 points out of first. With 100 points awarded to the winner of the second-to-last race of the season and 150 … Read more
I spent much of the day yesterday testing the 2025 Ram 1500 RHO in beautiful Holly, Michigan, and while I can’t share my impressions of the Hurricane-powered off-road beast, I can share information on the children’s version that was on display. That’s right – Ram worked with Segmart to produce an RHO ride-on toy for … Read more
Stellantis’ partnership with Factorial, a company with multiple partnerships, will yield a test fleet of Dodge Charger Daytonas powered by solid state batteries. These batteries have much higher power density by weight (over 390Wh/kg) as well as increased safety and possibly lower cost. The new fleet will start testing in 2026, a good omen for … Read more
The 9th annual Rebelle Rally wrapped up this past weekend and once again, a Jeep took the win, with the team of Nena Barlow, Teralin Petereit and their 2024 Jeep Gladiator Mojave claiming the Bone Stock class win and the overall victory. This is the third overall win for Barlow and Petereit in the past … Read more
General Motors announced that North American profits rose to nearly $4 billion as its revenue hit a record $41 billion—a 14% increase. While the margin may not have been as high as Stellantis seems to demand, GM profits were high and inventories were under control. GM operates under a UAW contract very similar to that … Read more