Recent content by MotorMaven

The same is true of Stellantis USA and GM. Without $40 billion in taxpayer bailout cash, the entire portfolio of GM and Chrysler brands would have failed and disappeared back in 2008, joining AMC, Studebaker, Packard, Nash, Hudson, and Kaiser-Fraser in the automotive graveyard.

Vehicle sales are slowing across the board and have been for a while; people who point to EVs and say they’re slowing and starting to decline are half right, half wrong. The implicit suggestion that gas car sales are growing is totally false. Overall, cars and housing have inflated in price by...

There will be a transition, but it will be short. Once the Chinese product starts selling in quantity, ICE will go the way of Oldsmobile.

If electric is dead, how come Tesla sells almost 15 cars for every Challenger or Charger Dodge manages to sell? Seems to me that the gas guzzling muscle car is dead and some are in denial about it. Dodge either adopts to the change, or keeps shipping obsolete gas cars with ever-shrinking...

If you want torque and gobs of power, the EV is going to be the best bet. The HEMI has dreadful emissions, which is why it’s being cut. It isn’t just about economy but also carbon pollution. Big V8s are pollution monsters and required huge payments for carbon credits that would keep increasing...

A 2017 RAM is eight years old in 2024. If you wait another year to buy that Chevy, that will be your last ICE truck — GM is dropping ICE by 2035.

For now, and not for much longer. ICE engines are on their way out in the next decade. Large displacement engines are on their way out right now. Reactions to the move towards efficiency and low emissions have always been strong. Today’s people angry about the end of the HEMI and the...

Sounds like you haven’t used an EV since the original Leaf. A 400 volt architecture car will charge from 20% to 80% in less than 20 minutes at a fast charger. An 800 volt car will get from 20% to 80% in less than ten. And if you’re like most drivers, you’ll rarely use a fast charger anyway...

Nope, unless you’re referring to the coupe (which was a stretched Eclipse). The Sebring sedan was based on an updated JA “cloud car” platform and was 100% Chrysler. Same with the Sebring convertible, which was based on a strengthened JA platform with additional crossmembers for greater...

None of those are sold in any Chrysler markets though.

A Chrysler product is going to have better build quality than a comparable Tesla product, and also benefit from a century of experience in packaging and ergonomics. One of the essential elements for a Chrysler comeback is going to be confidence. So long as Chrysler and its customers think they...

A decently loaded Tesla Model 3 is $38K. Chrysler Group won’t even sell you a sedan for less than $50k when the dealer “market adjustments,” “mandatory anti-theft devices,” and other such garbage is piled on. I keep hearing about how expensive EVs are from people who are fans of automakers...

Yep. Then you’re at $45K, plus the typical $5K “market adjustment” that stealerships are piling on to trucks and SUVs. Plus add another $3k for all the other add-ons that nobody wants and which they won’t take off, and you’re at $53K. Meanwhile, Tesla will deliver a brand new high-end Model Y...

The ICE and hybrid will be slow and inefficient in comparison. The EVs will be way, WAY faster. Dodge is the performance muscle brand. Leading with the performance muscle configurations makes sense; the ICE cars will be for folks who want an inefficient, slower and less reliable ICE out of...

EV sales aren’t “stalling.” Tesla just announced 38% YOY sales growth and the new Model 3 is both lower cost and better than not only the previous generation Model 3, but most sedans in its size class (including ICE cars). Meanwhile, visit your local CDJR dealer, Ford dealer, GM store or...