When Tim Kuniskis showed up on the SEMA Live stage presented by AutoZone alongside Chris Jacobs — best known for Overhaulin’ and Long Lost Family — the Ram CEO wasn’t there to blend in with the crowd. He was there to make a statement.
After retiring briefly in 2024, the longtime Stellantis executive returned to take on one of the broadest leadership roles in the company’s modern history: Ram CEO, Head of American Brands, Head of North America Marketing & Retail Strategy, and Head of SRT Performance and Direct Connection Division.
It’s a big title list for a man with one mission — to bring the soul and passion back to the Chrysler Group brands.
And at the 2025 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, Kuniskis sat down for a one-on-one chat with Jacobs on SEMA Live, streamed across the web, to talk about why he came back, the future of internal combustion, and what’s next for Ram and Dodge performance.
“This is where you see the real passion.” –
Kuniskis lit up when Jacobs asked him about SEMA.
“I love this show,” Kuniskis said. “I go to a lot of, you know, regular car shows, and they’re great for the industry, but this is where you see the real passion about, you know, the stuff that we bring to market is just a starting point. And then these guys just go absolutely crazy with it. And it’s cool to see the art of the possible.”
That simple statement spoke volumes about his respect for car culture — the kind of hands-on creativity and passion that built the Mopar community decades ago.
“You’re terrible at retiring.” –
Jacobs then joked with Kuniskis about his brief departure from the company.
“So, you know, I’m joking, of course, that you’re terrible at retiring. You did retire, I think, for only about six months, and they brought you right back in,” Jacobs said with a grin. “Are you enjoying your role as CEO of Ram? I mean, you’re really kind of leading the way of keeping ICE (internal combustion engine) alive.”
Kuniskis laughed but didn’t hold back in reflecting on what brought him back.
“Yeah. You know, it’s funny, when you leave after so many years, you think back to some of the things that you did that you were proud of. Like, I was part of this and part of that and part of this, but also after six months, you get that reflection time to go, you know what? There’s a couple things I’m not real proud of,” he said.
“And when you come back, it’s perfect that we’re in Vegas, right? When you come back, it’s like, I left and it was okay. I didn’t die. It wasn’t the end of the world. And now you’re back. It’s like you’re playing on house money, right? So now you can take the chances that maybe you regret that you didn’t take before.
“And you look back and you say, you know what, I’m not happy with HEMI going away. I’m not happy with NASCAR going away. I’m not happy with SRT going away. So I’m coming back. I’m playing on house money. And damn it, we’re going to do it right this time, and we’re going to bring it all back.”
NASCAR and a symbol of protest –
Jacobs pointed out that Kuniskis was already making good on some of those promises.
“Well, you know, you mentioned a couple things in there that you’re making good on your plan to bring back in 2026,” Jacobs said. “You guys have announced your partnership with NASCAR. You’re going to have some Ram trucks running in the NASCAR series, right?”
“We will be in the Truck Series in Daytona this year,” Kuniskis said. “I actually leave here this afternoon, fly down to Charlotte with our race team, Kaulig Racing, and we’re working on something the next couple of days that we’ll announce on Thursday. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”
Jacobs jumped in again, describing something he’d seen at the Radford Racing School. “I was telling you before we came on here that I was just at Radford Racing School yesterday doing a project. Kaulig was there with their drivers and some of the guys that are going to be driving for you guys in that series. And the one thing I honed in on immediately—the logo of the Ram head with the V8 engine backing it up.”
“The symbol of protest,” Kuniskis said. “Nobody really knows what we’re protesting. It’s for you to decide. And everybody’s got their own version of what it is. I know what I’m protesting, but you read into it whatever you want.”
Then he turned serious again, talking about where the industry stands after the EV wave.
“Well, how important do you think it is for the industry? I mean, because over the last couple years, everyone was very kind of spooked that the internal combustion engine was going to be going away,” Jacobs asked.
Kuniskis replied, “There’s a ton of work to be done because we took our eye off the ball for a little while. We had some regulations that we had to deal with, and there’s nothing wrong with electrification. Electrification is good for a lot of things, and in the future, it is going to be a very viable alternative. The problem that we had is we tried to tell everybody this is what you’re going to do, and as Americans, we hate to be told what to do, even if it’s the right thing.“
“You remember when we changed light bulbs and we moved from regular light bulbs to LED, and everybody was pissed—like, they’re better, but don’t tell me what I want. Don’t tell me I want an electric car. I’ll decide if I want an electric car. So now I think we’re in a good space—from ‘you must have an electric car’ to ‘if you want one, these are great, try it out.’ I think it’s the right way to do it. And over time, they’ll get better and better and better and better and better.”
“We were out shooting a reveal last week…” –
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Jacobs, who’s hosted several of Dodge’s wildest reveal stunts, couldn’t resist asking about what’s next.
“You know, I’ve been lucky enough to be part of two kind of iconic reveals for Dodge—the 2018 Demon on the docks in New York City, where we actually did a wheel stand with that 2018 Demon,” Jacobs said. “And then, just when you think it can’t be topped, Las Vegas 2023, here comes the D170 delivered by a helicopter. Went right over our heads. That was unbelievable. I’m sure you’ve got something cooking already for some reveals in the future with Ram.”
Kuniskis smiled. “So, I will tell you, last week we were out—I won’t tell you where because if I tell you where, it’ll be too much of a hint—but we were out shooting a reveal last week that’s going to top both of those. I mean, assuming I can get it through legal, because legal is going to have a heart attack when they see this thing. But assuming I get it through them, I would say probably within the next less than 60 days, we’ll have that out. And it’s going to top all those other reveals. Now, what do I do after that? I have no idea, because topping that one’s going to be hard.”
Based on industry timing, the reveal he’s teasing is almost certainly the long-awaited 2026 Ram 1500 TRX. That model is expected to debut in late January.
“550 horsepower, AWD, and two-tenths from HELLCAT.” –
Jacobs closed out the interview by asking about Dodge’s ICE future.
“What can guys like me who love ICE engines in Dodges expect in the future?” he asked.
Kuniskis replied confidently, “Well, so we have the T6 [twin-turbo 3.0-liter HURRICANE I6] coming out right now, 550 horsepower. The thing that everybody is not paying attention to yet—and they will when we do the drive event—we have a drive event coming up with all the journalists, and I think everybody’s forgetting about all-wheel drive. All-wheel drive is really the great enabler on that. 550 horsepower, but with AWD in real-world conditions. You think about when we started launching HELLCAT, the first HELLCAT, the world went crazy. 707 horsepower—it was the narrow body at the time—that car was about 3.7 0–60. Now this T6, because of the AWD, is a 3.9. I mean, you’re two-tenths of a second away from something that was this huge change in the industry. And this is our first variation. So what’s going to happen when we get the second, third, fourth variation? And honestly, in the real world on the street, stoplight to stoplight, that AWD makes a huge difference.”
For Kuniskis, this moment feels personal — a second chance to make good on unfinished business. And from what he told Jacobs, he intends to take that shot.
“Damn it, we’re going to do it right this time,” he said. “And we’re going to bring it all back.”
