According to the Detroit News (subscription required), Stellantis is planning to move to direct sales rather than going through dealers, possibly during the shift into battery-electric cars. Tesla, the American electric car maker, has avoided using franchises, resulting in state-by-state legal battles. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares claimed that distribution is about a third of a … Read more
When Jeep and Ram were tuning VM diesels for use in Ram 1500s and Jeeps, it turned to a Volkswagen-owned contractor and VM employees for help with fine tuning the controls. Not long afterwards, it turned out that Volkswagen had been faking its emissions tests, and then researchers and reporters turned their attention to just … Read more
It has been discussed quite a bit over the course of the past six months that the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is currently not available with the 6-speed manual transmission. A report from Road & Track in March suggested that the option had been removed for the supercharged muscle car in late 2021 while the … Read more
It seems like just yesterday Stellantis was rated as the worst automaker to work with by suppliers, in a Plante Moran survey which has been run since 2013. Almost at the same time, Stellantis’ global head of purchasing was replaced; and today, Automotive News reported that the North American head of supply chain, Martin Hornbeck, … Read more
Ford is paying $91 million to 40 states and the District of Columbia for deceptions about fuel economy and payload on the 2013-14 C-Max and 2011-14 Super Duty, respectively. In 2013, Ford dropped its official C-Max gas mileage by 7 mpg and sent $550 to owners to compensate them for the extra fuel use. They … Read more
Jeep announced two exceedingly small recalls for lighting issues. Around two dozen 2022 Grand Cherokee/Grand Cherokee Ls were recalled due to a body computer which may flash the hazard lights when braking, which violates federal rules. All affected vehicles were made on January 26; the total was five Grand Cherokees and 15 Grand Cherokee Ls, … Read more
Automotive News reported this morning that the new Stellantis-Samsung SDI joint-venture battery plant will likely be sited in Indiana, near existing Kokomo-area plants. It should be producing batteries in 2025, with a starting capacity of 23 gigawatt-hours. Company representatives said it would provide an update on Kokomo’s future operations later today. A Canadian facility has … Read more
Prices of classic collectible muscle cars have climbed a great deal over the past few years. This past weekend, the 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona shown here rolled across the Mecum Indy auction block; when the hammer sounded, this Hemi-powered wing car sold for a whopping $1.32 million – making this F8 Green the most valuable … Read more
In the 1990s, Chrysler Corporation, though much smaller than GM, Ford, or Toyota, soared ahead with innovative cars and trucks. The company single-handedly re-created the moribund large car market with the LH series of cars, made the first profitable American compact car in years with the Neon, which outperformed every competitor by a wide margin … Read more
Grainy pictures of the larger 2023 Ram digital gauge cluster have been floating around the internet for a few days, but our hunt for a clearer, higher resolution version paid off thanks to the Dodge Ram Owners Australia Facebook page. A member named Marty Marty shared a picture of what appears to be the new … Read more
Today, Stellantis announced renewed investment in India, with four Jeeps to be made there—the Wrangler, Compass, Grand Cherokee, and … Meridian. What on earth is a Jeep Meridian, you may ask? This is a Jeep Meridian. The Meridian is a seven-seat version of the Jeep Compass, complete with front wheel drive origins and similar front styling, … Read more
Volkswagen sales might have dropped by 28% in April and 18% for the year to date, but they remain the kings of European sales with a 24% market share in 2022 so far (down from 27% in Jan-April 2021). Stellantis came in second with a 19% market share (down from 22%), with sales in April … Read more
Last week, Stellantis announced that Maxime Picat (prior head of STLA’s Enlarged Europe organization) had been promoted to head of global purchasing and supply chain management. The prior head of purchasing, Michelle Wen, had enforced a new policy which demanded that suppliers pass along any of their own cost savings on work done for Stellantis. … Read more
This past weekend, the NHRA Camping World Drag Racing Series headed to Virginia Motorsports Park for the 2022 Virginia Nationals. Tony Stewart Racing Funny Car driver Matt Hagan hails from Christiansburg, Virginia, just under 200 miles from the venue, making VMP somewhat of Hagan’s home track. He used that familiarity to set two records at … Read more
Back in October 2020, FCA US applied for a trademark on the word Cuda, in the category of “Land vehicles, namely, passenger automobiles.” The trademark was published for opposition on February 23, 2021. It seems there wasn’t any. What happened? As far as we can tell, there was no opposition to FCA US (a division … Read more
Bob Hubbach, Chrysler’s design manager from 1967 to 2001, passed away on the night of May 14 while in hospice. Hubbach was a co-designer of the highly successful Valiant Charger, Australia’s famed “Hemi Six” powered successor to the Valiant Pacer. This car set a long-standing Australian speed record with its 265 cubic inch inline six, … Read more
