I commented in a previous article about this very thing and I've said it many times before. I don't understand how a brand with so much potential is having such a hard time with connecting to customers. I've also said before I don't understand why Stellantis over complicates this situation any why they do the stuff that they do sometimes.
The new platforms were great ideas, all four of them. The thing is, the North American market only really needs two of those platforms STLA Large and Frame. Being that the large platform can bring about cars that range anywhere from the size of a Honda Accord or BMW 3-series sedan to a vehicle the size of a Tahoe (113.0"-121" wheelbase), it really makes it hard for me to understand the real issue here when I see articles that say that the brand is struggling to make vehicles that connect with their customers. Not to mention we are positioned in the market with some of the most awesome trucks on the planet so why we can't connect with customers and make awesome vehicles that people want (and can afford) blows my mind. Part of the problem is that Dodge is a blue-collar brand and their pricing their vehicles (at least some of them) outside of that market. Not to mention the blatant misuse of their nameplates which is something that doesn't sit well with their customers and fans. On top of that, you have the Chrysler brand being snuffed out because they don't have the market space to be anything that they really need to be. It's true that we can blame the last several years of the company's downfall on CARLOS TAVARES and his quest to destroy the most iconic and traditional American brands so that the European brands can flourish. But there is more to it than just that and I really think there are things that need to be addressed and stressed to the point where the CEOs may stop for a moment and really think about what they have and how to best utilize everything that Mopar has been for the last century or so to their own advantage. And that's before we address the issue of product quality and market strategy
I don't want to beat the dead horse in saying that rolling out the EV stuff first was a bad idea. Why? Because we already knew that trying to go cold turkey on V8s and start selling EVs for Dodge was never going to go over well! We knew that, Ford knew that and so did everyone else. So I'm not going to mention the fact that rolling out EVs before rolling out regular cars was an imbecilic, half-witted, asinine, delusional idea conjured up by one, CARLOS TAVARES. It's just common sense not to do that, right? So now that I don't have to mention it, let's talk about some real stuff. I understand Stellantis is trying it's best to streamline what they have going on out there in Michigan and there's nothing wrong with that. Battling tariffs, the UAW, a volatile market, the EPA, and of course, all of us. Not going to lie, that's got to be rough! Mopar is an amalgamation of brands, fueled by enthusiasts with pure unadulterated passion and rebellious American pride. We love our V8 powered, rear wheel drive & 4x4 vehicles for none other than the reason of that's the way it was and that's the way it should always be for us. There's nothing wrong with that from the consumer standpoint and it's up to Stellantis to fill that need to keep it's customers. However, from the business standpoint, not everything can be a hellcat. I think, one of the biggest things Stellantis, North America needs to do would be to drop the Chrysler brand from the lineup completely. Jeep, for what it's worth, is a luxury brand, Ram has enough luxury in the 1500 pickup to Rival most of the big-3 european brands and Dodge has the Citadel and it's cars are pretty well appointed to be honest. That right there alone leaves Chrysler without a leg to stand on. Not to mention, it really just has the Minivan. However, a saving grace could be that Chrysler could become the sole Mopar lineup for the urban police force, now that I think about it. An STLA Large based wagon in either hybrid interceptor sedan with a 370hp/470tq 2.0L Hybrid turbo powertrain named the Chrysler Diplomat. Better power and torque than a 5.7L Hemi and better fuel economy. Chrysler could also market those cars to every rental company out there along with a smaller midsize STLA Large platform car known as the Chrysler Reliant, paying homage to the K-cars that saved the brand in the '80's
With Chrysler gone from the pedestrian market, let's focus on Jeep for the moment. I think alot of money was wasted on the Wagoneer, Grand Wagoneer, Wagoneer S and Recon along with the new Jeep Cherokee. Not to mention those names should have never been used on any of those vehicles at all. They're not competitive, and they do nothing to bring any kind of legacy to their names at all. Cherokee and Grand Cherokee literally should have been revised on the STLA Large platform and been made as modern versions of the SJ-Jeeps with the Hurricane engines and a 4Xe variant. Jeep can literally drop the 2-door wrangler and keep the Wrangler Unlimited 4-door as the sole variant of the Wrangler and have the Gladiator as it's chassis mate on the STLA Large platform, powered solely by the Hurricane H/O and S/O engines. Very simple lineup, straightforward, no issues. Bring out some Jeep options for off-roading and things of that nature, keep that blend of rugged luxury in the Grand Cherokee and call it a day. Cherokee should be a 2-row model and Grand Cherokee should be a three-row model. Renegade should be a trim level on all Jeeps not it's own model. While I'm not a fan of the new Wagoneers, I 100% feel that Jeep should have a decent sized SUV. If the STLA Large platform can create a vehicle with the same wheelbase as a Tahoe, The Jeep Commander should be the nameplate on that type of vehicle and it doesn't need to be that massive. Square, rugged and urban like a Jeep version of a Hummer is really what the Commander should be. This vehicles should be powered by both Hurricane-6 powertrains but also the 647hp EV powertrain that the Ram 1500 "Ramcharger" is getting and yes it should have the fratzonic exhaust system. Bringing back a top-tier luxury trim named "Golden Eagle" would also be a great idea along with a great 4x4 Cherokee Chief. Jeep also needs a 1500-series pickup called the J10 and it needs to have a 540hp "RHO-type" model, a 420hp "Rebel-type" model and a base 420hp "Warlock-style" model. All Hurricane-6 powered
The Dodge brand can benefit from having every single vehicle on the STLA Large platform and having everything AWD with the new 8-speed transmission. You want a Brand that can blend Heritage & future together then let that be the Dodge Brand. You don't even need to create new names for anything, with 100-years of being in the business, We don't need new names, we don't need to borrow names from other brands or anything else. Let me ask this question. If the STLA Large platform can range from 113"-121", what would stop Stellantis from making a small coupe and small sedan the same size as a BMW M3 sedan/M4 Coupe with a longitudinally mounted drivetrain powered by a 320hp 2.0L Hurricane-4 Turbo or even a hybrid version pushing 375-380hp and around 450lb-ft of torque (like the 4Xe) and call the Sedan the Neon and the Coupe the Dart? I could easily see this being a better "gateway to muscle" than the Hornet. Give both cars GT, R/T, GLH & SRT4 trim levels and packages and call it a day. Give both vehicles the hidden-hatch treatment like the Charger and bring what we need back to the market. Want a decent sedan with a good amount of room along the lines of a Toyota Camry or something in that range and still gets decent power? No problem, reintroducing the Dodge Intrepid. Still AWD, about the size of a Toyota Avalon, still the same 8-speed automatic with a 320hp 2.0L Hurricane-4 Turbo engine for the SXT trim. Trim levels include the SXT trim, the R/T trim with the 420hp Hurricane-6 S/O powertrain and the luxury Citadel Motorsports trim with the 550hp Hurricane-6 H/O powertrain and an SRT-level luxury interior with SRT-tune chassis and brakes and a mellow "sport" exhaust. Need a two-row SUV about the size of the WK Grand Cherokee with the option for a bit of GLH/SRT4 Performance? Reintroducing the Dodge Nitro. Dodge's version of an X5M-lite. If that rides to high, it's stable mate, the Journey might be more appealing with a bit of Hornet styling but longer, roomier and more powerful. Want a Minivan that doesn't look like a Minivan? Reintroducing the Dodge Grand Caravan, with a boxier shape that hearkens back to the D100 Street vans of the mid to late '70's with Jailbreak packages that lets you customize your "Street Van" any way you want it. Powered by either the 380hp 2.0L 4Xe hybrid system or the standard output 420hp Hurricane-6 engine. Trim level options include the well-appointed GT, the performance-oriented R/T, the hardcore GLH package and lastly, the luxury Citadel version. Next up, a large Dodge SUV that can tackle not only the black top, but the trail as well. Fitted with either the Standard output 420hp Hurricane-6 or the mighty 540hp Hurricane-6 High Output powertrain, correctly reintroducing the DODGE RAMCHARGER SUV. With two trim levels, either the rugged R/T "Road & Trail" 4X4 package or the classic rugged, yet refined Citadel package, The Ramcharger would be the largest SUV offered by Mopar.
Now of course we can't have Dodge without Muscle and no, I'm not talking about the Hurricane-6. Don't get me wrong, I think the hurricane-6 is amazing and I still love that powertrain. I don't think it's 100% the right powertrain for The direction that Dodge needs to go with it's muscle cars. Dodge needs two different sized V8 engines, the first being a 360ci V8 or a 5.9L in modern terms. Basically it would be taking a 5.7L engine and adding the 6.4L crankshaft. If anyone remembers back a few years ago Mopar Performance had scat pack kits for the 5.7L Hemi, which had the 6.4L heads, exhaust manifolds, a better cam, tune and a better exhaust and with everything combined it added like 55hp to the 5.7L moving it from 370hp to about 425hp or something like that. Taking that same concept, increasing the displacement on that by adding a bigger crank and then also an improved intake manifold, a better exhaust system, fuel system, and a different tune should be able to move that number closer to 480hp with a decent amount of torque, even to say around 450-460lb-ft of torque. That's not bad for an entry level V8, matter of fact, it's comparable to the cross-town rival Ford Mustang's 5.0L V8. Now let's say Stellantis decided to bring out a supercharged version of that engine pushing about 560hp, with forged internals and not maxed out so there's still room for maybe a few stage kits, with the Stage-II kit possibly having a smaller supercharger pulley and some different sized "overdrive" pulleys and things like that. Not bad right? That basically combines the best of the 5.7L Hemi and the 6.4L Hemi and gives us a classic "Small-block" engine that makes good power. At the other engine of this spectrum, we have the supercharged 7-liter Hellephant engine, a 426cubic inch street Hemi tuned to "900 horses of Detroit Muscle." You take these three engines and you put them in three very distinct vehicles, a Dodge Coronet Coupe, a Dodge Charger sedan and the Dodge Durango SUV. Being that the new Charger takes alot of it's styling cues from the '71-'74 Charger including most of it's interior design (although some came from '66-'67) along with the exterior cues from '71-'74 with a few cues from 1970. The Charger should get the Super Bee trim, the R/T trim and the SRT Daytona-426 trim as it's three tiers. The Coronet Coupe would have the Super Bee, R/T and SRT-426 trim levels and the Durango would have GT, R/T and SRT-426 trim levels along with a Citadel variant powered by the 420hp Hurricane-6 S/O powertrain. Yes, all three vehicles will be all-wheel-drive and all of them will have Jailbreak packages, as well as a full catalog of Direct Connection and SRT upgrades. It'd be nice if the Charger had the option for the '72 style taillights with the three sections and if the Coronet had it's classic 3-section taillamps as well.
As far as Ram is concerned, the 5.9L V8 played a big part in Ram Performance from vehicles like the Li'l Red Express. What's not to love about a 600hp Supercharged 5.9L street trim pickup truck called the Li'l Red express with side pipes integrated into chrome running boards, a short bed, either single cab or full four-door, black graphics with options of every sing shade of Mopar red that has been available from '68 until now. And who wouldn't love a 900hp Ram 1500 SRT Daytona pickup with the return of the big wing street performance pickup truck with a supercharged 426-Hemi and all-wheel drive. That still leaves room for the 420hp Hurricane-6 to power trim levels like the Big Horn and other lower model Ram 1500 trucks and for the 550hp Hurricane-6 to power trucks like the Limited, Laramie Longhorn and Tungsten. It even gives the higher end trucks the option of having the electric variant as a low-volume option being that it would now be the Ram 1500 REV in Tungsten or Limited models only. Ram 2500 and larger models need a larger Hemi V8 and I genuinely recommend a 610hp 440ci V8 to battle Ford's Godzilla V8 along with 7.0L Cummins diesel pushing over 1,000hp and over 1,100lb-ft of torque. As far as Ram commercial vehicles such as the promaster and promaster city vehicles along with certain chassis-cab trucks, this is where the EV world and Hurricane-6 powertrains can have a chance to shine in a major way. A Ram Dakota needs to happen like 10-years ago! Hurricane power is fine for most of the trim levels, but there has to be a 5.9L Dakota R/T option. This pretty much covers all of the bases for Stellantis North America and would be a great way to "Connect" with customers
Another big hurdle for Stellantis is quality. That has to be a major focal point for improvement for the brand in the upcoming years. A spectacular lineup is great, but if everything is junk that comes off the assembly line, a great lineup means nothing.
While there are a few V8 powered vehicles in this lineup, The majority of this lineup is still very much reliant on the Hurricane family of engines , including hybrids. Not to mention the EV aspect is still very much present in this lineup.