I think we all can point out reasons to why Stellantis North America isn't doing well right now. From having that horrible former CEO Carlos Tavares, quality issues, rushed products, unwanted products, brands with literally nothing to offer, etc. The brand is in a bad spot at the moment. I've said it before and yes I will say it again, the brand has a lot of potential but needs better execution and hopefully with TK back along with Antonio Filosa as the new CEO and Ralph Gilles still in design, we will see the improvements the North American Brands need as we move forward.
I've said alot of things before about all of this, repurposing brands, expanding brand lineups, rethinking strategies, better use of what Stellantis already has at their disposal, listening to their customers and targeted markets, building upon their heritage and so many other things that, from my perspective, would improve certain aspects of the Stellantis company, especially when it comes to the North American market but it goes for Stellantis as a whole. The Stellantis European market has their big three being Fiat, Alfa Romeo and Maserati. The STLA Small & STLA Medium platforms fit perfectly for most anything Fiat and Alfa Romeo would need to bring out small hatchback to midsize vehicles for the european market with turbocharged-hybrid powertrains. Phasing out Maserati wouldn't be a big loss and those other brands (Citroen & Opel) could easily utilize the STLA Small platform for nearly all of their vehicles with 1.3L Turbocharged hybrid powertrains. The same goes for the Stellantis Latin American market. Let Fiat take over the entire Latin American market and pull Dodge and Ram out of those markets. and keep the STLA Small and Medium Platforms for the Latin American market. Stellantis Africa is a growing market that could use the same two platforms for the Peugeot, Citroen, Opel, Fiat, Jeep and Alfa Romeo vehicles they sell over there. Swapping out Wranglers and Grand Cherokees, for the Avenger and Compass models. While it may sound strange, moving Chrysler to the Stellantis Australian market along with the Hurricane-6 would actually make a serious amount of sense. Australia is known for their Inline-6 Mopar performance cars and they were built under the Chrysler name so bringing Chrysler back to it's fire-breathing Inline-6 muscle roots and the STLA: Large Platform in the place where it all happened would actually be something positive for the brand rather than just letting it die miserably here the way it's going. That along with building a strong Jeep and Ram market in Australia would actually be beneficial to the company and it would seriously strengthen their global presence.
While that takes care of Stellantis globally, the North American market would move to having three brands, Ram, Jeep and Dodge, along with four platforms, Small, Medium, Large and Frame. We know that 99% of Ram trucks will be on the STLA Frame platform and with Tim Kuniskis leading the pack, We know Ram is fine. It would be nice to see Ram bring out an American version of the Rampage on a stretched version of the STLA Large platform and even give it an SRT4 variant along with a Rebel and Warlock Variant as well, of course, time will tell. Jeep is doing some things that are looking promising and to be honest, Jeep is really the luxury brand of Mopar now, which makes it easier to move forward without the Chrysler brand in North America. Especially with Jeep moving models to the STLA Large platform. The Wagoneer S is already on that platform and when Jeep decides to add hybrid powertrains to this vehicle, especially any with power, it nullifies the return of any Chrysler sedan. Same with the Grand Cherokee. The new bills that are being moved are constantly pushing EVs out of necessity, even though some will still be around but the hybrid powertrains are really going to take over soon. We could still see Jeep build an Grand Wagoneer with a performance model that would dethrone the Cadillac Escalade V Blackwing with a Hellephant engine and top-tier luxury and with all of that, plus the luxury of a Ram pickup truck, Chrysler really doesn't have a leg to stand on in the US. Jeep is also in a position to build some great vehicles on the STLA Medium platform as well giving the US market a better version of the Compass, along with a different kind of Jeep Renegade being the Renegade SX4, hearkening back to the days of the AMC Eagle, giving us the American answer to the Toyota Crown and Toyota Crown Sport. While both Ram & Jeep have a decent portfolio of vehicles, point blank, Dodge needs to be the Mopar brand with the most diversity in the United States without question. Do we need our V8 Muscle cars? Absolutely yes! The return of the Viper? Absolutely! The STLA Large platform absolutely needs to house vehicles like the LB Charger (Coupe & sedan) along with the next-gen Durango and they absolutely need to have V8 engines whether it's the Hemi or an updated version of the iconic LA-Series small block V8 engines with modern day technology or both! Those cars absolutely need to exist moving forward but the brand needs to be so much more than that! Dodge needs genuine volume sellers and no that doesn't necessarily equate to boring cars. The STLA Medium platform is designed to be pretty much a FWD based platform, engineered for Transverse mounted engines and a transaxle, which typically isn't what most people would think of when it comes to performance. However, Stellantis introduced a "gateway" vehicle a few years ago and even though the former leadership botched it trying to rush something to market, they were on to something that should have worked pretty well and that vehicle is none other than the Hornet R/T. While the vehicle flopped due to being plagued with software issues and a few other things, the idea behind what they were trying to do was, in fact, sound. Take a turbocharged 4cylinder engine up front and mate it to an electric drive module in the back to give it an AWD system with a bit of punch and performance and for all extensive purposes in that one aspect, Stellantis was successful. The packaging of the car was bad being that it was just a rebadged Alfa Tonale and it had overheating issues and a few other things. But hear me out for a moment. The STLA: Medium platform specs are as follows: Wheelbase = 106.3" to 114.2", Overall length 169.3" to 192.9" it can have up to 8.7" of ground clearance and have a 29.5" overall tire size. Basically saying an STLA:Medium sedan could be about the size of a Kia Stinger or Acura TLX Type-S, and SUVs such as the Hyundai Palisade, the Kia Telluride, Honda Passport and the Acura MDX. Or in Dodge Terms, the size of a Dodge Journey. If Dodge were to take that platform, bring out a sedan and two crossovers, you now have a five car Dodge lineup that could actually bring back volume to the brand but also heritage and performance in affordable packages and fix two mistakes that it's made in the past couple of years with two vehicles that could have been truly amazing. While the Durango takes the Muscle car approach to the SUV, a Dodge Journey would take the more traditional approach to a mid-size SUV with a Tuned up 305hp/315tq 2.0L Hurricane-4 turbo and a ZF 9-speed automatic transaxle with AWD. A Citadel trim would offer the luxury with the return of the Journey All-Road package to tackle the off-road adventures. These next two vehicles are meant to fix what Dodge messed up and that is a redo of the Hornet and the return of the Dodge Dart. Both of these vehicles were done an injustice by Dodge and it deserves to be addressed and corrected and the STLA Medium platform is the platform to do it with. Take the 305hp 2.0L 4-cylinder as the base engine in GT trim vehicles and then add the same hybrid system that the current Hornet R/T has to that 2.0L Turbo and push out around 380hp and 410lb-ft of torque. Give that same powertrain a GLH package with handling and braking upgrades along with cold air intake and a higher flowing catback for 395hp and 410tq and you have two hot performing midsize cars and a proper reintroduction of the GLH trim. Then turn up the heat and bring back SRT4 with both of those models with a nasty 2.4L Hurricane-4 Turbo HO engine with a forged rotating assembly, crossplane crank, Plasma transferred wire arc cylinder liners, hot cams, etc. all coming together to push about 365hp through a 9-speed performance tuned dual-clutch transaxle up front with a 170hp Electric drive module on the rear axle with torque vectoring, Brembo brakes, SRT tuned suspension and chassis, SRT design styling, etc. And now you have a pair of SRT4 cars that can show taillights to a Mustang Dark Horse with about 535hp and alot of torque with more comfort, more functionality and less money. Keep in mind with the Dart having a 114.2" wheelbase, this car is going to be longer, have a longer wheelbase and wider than a Mustang so the handling should be improved. Obviously, the Dart that I'm thinking of is nothing like the last version of the Dart that we had a few years ago that was basically a revised Fiat. I'm thinking more of something that takes some of the styling cues from the front end of the Hornet with a similar styled front bumper, a different headlight design (more of dual-element design with separate high and low-beams along with a revised LED DRL, dual scalloped hood, coke-bottle shape like a charger with smooth flared fenders, four-door coupe design (along with a 2-door coupe), a quad taillamp design like the '72-'74 Challenger, 19" Staggered wheels, A Charger/Durango-inspired interior and so on and so forth. That's the kind of car I'm talking about. Make the Hornet longer and better proportioned and not as awkward. Those two cars would out-muscle everything it their segment. Add to that a full portfolio of upgrades from Direct Connection for not only those cars, but for the rest of the Dodge & Ram lineup and now we have something worth while. The STLA Small platform can produce a car about the size of the current hornet with a 114.2" wheelbase, which is longer than the 103.8 wheelbase of the current hornet and longer than the 107" wheelbase of the Ford Mustang. Meaning that a Dodge Neon sedan, a Dodge Caliber hatch with a 305hp/315 GLH package and a 380hp SRT4 package would be enough to take on the Integra Type S and Civic Type R while a 305hp Omni GLH compact crossover could top off the Entry-level Mopar performance category.
There is one other vehicle that I did not mention and to me, this vehicle not only still has a place in the Dodge lineup, it has a place on American roads and gives a safe place for a full BEV option in the Dodge lineup. Dodge started the segment of the Minivan and it's time that Dodge brings back the Grand Caravan but in a way that only Dodge can do and yes that is as an EV. Again, hear me out. Dodge knows how to take something normal and make it exciting. An aerodynamic STLA Large platform three-row people mover the combines, all of that luxury and tech and everything else that Stellantis has been trying to do, all put into a vehicle that makes sense to do it with. A wide, sculpted vehicle inspired by the Chrysler Halcyon and the Jeep Wagoneer S (big floating rear wing and flying buttresses), low sportscar inspired design, agile handling, low center of gravity, a Charger Daytona inspired dash and driver area, AWD, about 600hp, 3-speed gearbox and a milder fratzonic exhaust system. An engaging, EV that makes sense and that people would rather be seen in than a Tesla.
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