I think plain and simple Stellantis (Carlos Tavares & Co.) biggest issues were the way they've presented things to the North American Market and the timing of which they've done things. I've said it before. I think Stellantis was smart for introducing the STLA platforms, Hurricane engines and to a degree, their EVs and I also don't think that dropping the Hemi V8 family of engines was necessarily a bad idea either. The problem was the way they presented it and the timing in which they did it in. They presented the switch from traditional and familiar at a time when the whole world was already in a chaotic situation and the big governmental (presidential) war was at an all time high so everyone was really up in arms with the whole pipelines and fracking and all of that other stuff that we don't really hear much about anymore anyway, so when Stellantis presented this change, it really created an uproar. Another issue is that we have issues with change. especially when that change puts us more in line with the rest of what the world is doing and reduces the amount separation of between us and them and let's face it, for the last 20 years, Dodge has been the most amazing piece of "This here's 'MURICA!!!!" (in Sam Neil voice) thing we've had going since the '60's and '70's. Moving away from the political aspect of this, let's look at the North American market with the big three and weigh it for what it's really worth.
Right now, we have one pony car left, the Mustang, and one sports car left, the Corvette. Both with high tech engines with less than six liters. No one out there has a big cubic inch pushrod V8, we were the last man standing when it comes to old school traditional blown hemi big cubic inch V8 type power. Outside of that, when it comes to power, Ford pretty much leads the charge with the ecoboost family of twin turbo 6-cylinder engines with up to 450hp without the use of electrification, which is pretty darn good. While it's true that none of us asked for the change, change is a part of life and we all knew this wouldn't last forever and at some point this 20-year muscle car run (the longest run ever) was going to wind down. And no, we don't really like change, but judging from what I've been reading and looking at, what is coming might not be so bad after all.
Dodge has been known over the years to produce great vehicles and then some not so great vehicles and currently, with the brand somewhat starting fresh with a lot of things, some of these first gen vehicles aren't that great, like the Hornet. Neat idea, bad delivery. I've made several suggestions over the past in comments but I think the simplest thing for Stellantis to do is with the North American Market, focus on the STLA Large and STLA frame platforms and as I've said before repurpose the brands. Dodge is a muscle brand/volume seller brand, Chrysler is a premium brand/luxury brand, Jeep is an SUV brand (not luxury) and Ram is a truck brand. Dodge's cars would still be the Charger (coupe/sedan), the Durango (or Stealth, whatever it may be after 2025), the Dodge Rampage STLA Large pickup truck and a revised Hornet. Roadkill nights shows that the Hornet deserves to be a RWD based vehicle and not a FWD based Tonale awkwardly wrapped in a Dodge skin. The Hornet should be the Dodge version of what the Chrysler Airflow concept was. That would have been a bad@$$ Hornet and still could be. When it comes to powertrains, We already know the specs of the Hurricane-6 engines. The Standard variant puts out 420hp (6.1L Hemi) and nearly 470lb-ft of torque (1st gen 6.4), and the High Output is going to be about 550hp/531tq with AWD so all four of these vehicles are going to be powerful and better all around than any naturally aspirated V8 we have right now from the factory. While the 420hp of the standard output car doesn't seem like much when compared to something like a 480hp Mustang with a 5.0L GT, let's keep in mind the 5.0L only puts out 418lb-ft of torque whereas the Hurricane puts out 468lb-ft with AWD. But also remember, the Kia Stinger with 365hp in a twin turbo 3.3L V6 could outperform the 435hp 5.0L Mustang only a few short years ago with a bigger hp and torque gap and the Stinger is similar to what we're going to get with this new Charger. Which makes me feel like this car is going to be very competitive and still faster than the mustang while being more practical in both coupe and sedan form. What would make even more sense would be for Dodge to have a Charger GT with a 370hp 2.0L hybrid setup as the base car with 450lb-ft of torque and AWD. What really makes this cool is that this is only part of the story because Direct Connection still has room to make Stage kits for these vehicles along with collaborations with certain other companies such as Weld Racing for wheels and certain other companies for styling, suspension, exhaust, turbo upgrades, etc. Not to mention the aftermarket. On top of that, The 550hp version of the Hurricane is the Cat-3 version and there is still a 1,000+hp version of it called the Cat-X and while that may be a race-only trim, There is a serious possibility that and 850hp version of that mated to a hybrid 8-speed could give us a car that could surpass the new ZR1 in horsepower and torque and also be for Dodge what the ZL1 Camaro was for Corvette. Just saying. All of that with hybrid technology which means two electrified powertrains under the Dodge umbrella along with Hurricane power for everything else and factory backed performance tuning and customization with warranties and 50-state legal. As for Chrysler, the Airflow concept wasn't bad and I still think Chrysler should be the brand that focuses on EV technology for the Stellantis North American brand. Chrysler having the Airflow crossover, a 300E coupe/sedan EV sister car to the Charger, the Town & Country minivan (STLA Large), the return of the Chrysler Aspen (Durango), and lastly the Chrysler Imperial ( STLA Frame rebadged Jeep Wagoneer/Grand Wagoneer). Give the Imperial the 800V architecture with the 3.6L range extender with a tri-motor setup, and everything else the 800V architecture with dual motor or tri-motor setups and have a luxury brand that runs rings around Telsa with more tech, features and luxury and an organic feel (for less money)! This makes Chrysler a full electric brand that makes sense in the Stellantis North American market. Jeep needs to go back to being Jeep and honestly capitalize solely on a Gen-2 4Xe powertrain with the new ZF gen-4 plug in hybrid transmission and an updated Hurricane-4 2.0L, making every jeep model with a longitudinally mounted hybrid powertrain. This puts the Cherokee and Grand Cherokee on the STLA Large platform and the Wrangler/ Gladiator on a version of the STLA Frame platform. The Jeep Cherokee/Grand Cherokee could go back to the SJ days as a cool retro-inspired all-terrain vehicle like the Bronco with two doors, but of course a bit longer, more comfortable and with more useable cargo space while the Grand Cherokee would be the four-door variant, both putting out about 400hp and 470lb-ft of torque from the hybrid setup. Give the Wrangler/Gladiator the same powertrains and power outputs and call it a day. This makes the entire Jeep lineup electrified with hybrid tech. Right there you have two electrified lineups that won't upset the masses and keep your loyal customer base happy. The Hurricane powertrains in the Ram 1500 pickup lineup are quickly proving themselves worthy successors to the old 5.7L Hemi trucks so there's no problem there. Ram HD could literally just go to the 6.7L I-6 Cummins engine and with the upcoming hybrid variant and the new transmission that should be arriving in the lineup soon, the Ram truck line should be perfect. I think the Ramcharger idea is an Amazing idea for an electrified pickup truck as it allows the truck to be more flexible in the market and if it can have a competitive power output and range then there really isn't any issue.
Right there we have four brands completely repurposed and balanced for the American market that not only keeps everything EPA friendly but also appeals to the customer base that Mopar brands have and allows Stellantis to electrify its North American arm properly. Each brand has 4 or 5 vehicles to their lineup and none of them take a back seat to anything the rest of the American brands have to offer.
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