Dodge CEO Talks About The Future Of SRT With Autoweek:

Electrification Is A "Great Thing For SRT"...

Robert S. Miller April 17, 2021

2023 Dodge Challenger SRT HELLCAT Redeye Widebody. (Dodge).

Back in February, we discussed the newly formed Stellantis group’s decision to disband the Street & Racing Technology (SRT) division. While a lot of people refused to read into the details, the SRT lineup is alive and well. The SRT engineering team has since been reorganized within the company to work on high-performance vehicles across the new company’s fourteen different brands.

2020 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. (Dodge).

Autoweek happened to sit down with Dodge//SRT CEO Tim Kuniskis this week, to get the details on the company’s decision to reorganize the SRT engineering team throughout the company. He also confirmed that just because the SRT engineering team is “no longer be sitting in the same office together”, it doesn’t mean the SRT lineup is dead.

2021 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat Redeye Widebody. (Dodge).

“We took this core group of people that were sitting in one building where guys were working on TRX in one area, and Rubicon 392 in another area, and Chargers and Challengers in another area, and sent the TRX group to work with the Ram engineers, the Rubicon 392 group to work with the Wrangler engineers and so on,” Kuniskis said.

“People looked at that change and said ‘SRT is being disbanded.’ Absolutely not. It’s the opposite. It’s the right thing to do for performance because SRT today is a sub-brand within Dodge. The highest trims are SRTs. It goes from [the] base and rises to SRT. The highest performance of any of our lineups are SRTs,” Kuniskis went on to say.

Kuniskis also discussed the future of the SRT brand and the company’s move to electrification. He confirmed that he thought electrification is a “great thing for SRT”. Kuniskis himself is known for being one of the company’s management heads who is a true gearhead. So it is a positive note to see that the SRT part of the Dodge brand will continue on after Dodge adapts to Stellantis’ recent announcement of electrification by 2030.

You can read about the entire interview over at Autoweek.

Source: Autoweek

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M Mopar392 Apr 17, 2021 #1

Well, they can eTorque and eBoost every engine as long as they keep the V8.

Imagine a 392 V8 with an eBooster for even faster of the line acceleration or a Hellcat with an additional electric supercharger.

I know I’m crazy.

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cygnus Apr 18, 2021 #2

The issue though is the V8 is going to get much more expensive. There is no way around this with the current regulatory environment.

What they're going to attempt is to have offering with smaller displacement, with electric boost, that meets or exceeds the current performance, at a similar price point of what you get for an R/T today.

But V8s are a cultural thing. I don't know if the above strategy will work with Dodge fans with the volumes they expect per vehicle platform. That's why the next L platform will most likely to include an SUV offering, to increase overall next generation L platform sales to make up for lower sales of next generation Charger/Challenger sales, since the V8 will no longer be offered for less than $40K or so USD.

Do we even know if next generation L platform is Giorgio Global? I figure it has to be.

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TripleT Apr 19, 2021 #3

GG is not a Platform.... it is a architecture

V8 in a Omni would be awesome.

Bili Apr 19, 2021 #4

Yes, and according to ex-FCA platform is family of architectures. So it's not the same as platform under the old Chrysler.

Giorgio is family of architectures. We can look at it as Giorgio and descendent architectures. Usually, and it's not just an FCA, higher end segments and price points have more unique parts which of course means more dedicated development. Lower end products which are usually on transverse engine FWD architecture have more sharing.
Even the all mighty VAG is doing or did it that way. MQB is modular and a lot of sharing. MLB with longitudinal engine for bigger and more pricey cars is according to them "ehm, not so modular".

vbondjr1 Apr 19, 2021 #5

Honestly, I would seriously trust Dodge to deliver on it's high performance SRT electric vehicles. I'm truly not a fan of electric but I would trust that Dodge would continue making great electric performance cars. What I would expect from SRT would be the very best in electric performance in every aspect, especially sound. Dodge still knows how to stir the soul when it comes to the sound of a performance car and I think that they'd continue on that. I could see the next generation of electric performance vehicles. Hopefully the Dodge SRT electric vehicles will incorporate the core sound of the Viper V10 engine with 8-speed Dual Clutch transmissions behind their electric motors with styles and designs that will still excite like the Mopar vehicles we have today.

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