Stellantis Has “Disbanded” The Street & Racing Technology (SRT) Division:

Corporate mergers are about consolidation and eliminating overlap and duplication. The end result is usually financial savings, but also the result can be a better organization, from the best talent and practices gleaned from the process. If the performance spirit and focus of our beloved brands continues, is better funded and executed, than this is a good thing. There is a lot of racing and high performance history among the Stellantis brands and that should prosper on paper as a single group. What can be a concern is that a performance group that may be too European thinking, asks with concern, can an All-American performance mindset and chemistry thrive? The Germans never got it, the Italians tried but there was some confusion trans Atlantic. As to the French, who knows? If Dodges returns to NASCAR and Dodge Challengers dominate NHRA Factory Stock competition, good. If not, bad. The jury will be out on this for awhile.

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This story has a familiar ring to it. When Sergio M stepped into Auburn Hills he disbanded the ENVI team. The people involved all were absorbed into the traditional corporate structure.

From 2009:

How dare I compare an EV program with SRT. The products are different, but the strategy of the team development is similar. The Fiat 500e compliance car which happened after the disbanding of the ENVI team used an outsourced powertrain from Bosch. However, the extended range EV prototypes also used vendor sourced powertrains. There was also a battery electric minivan project for the USPS, but Uncle Sam didn't think FCA would survive, so the project cancelled when FCA was turned down.

The SRT team did well during the FCA years. The groups low volume projects for the most part have been money makers, unlike the resource hungry compliance car program. Times have changed. SRT nuked the fridge with the Dodge Challenger Demon. The show continues, but it is the same old story. The Ram TRX is a thirsty public relations risk. It might very well be the next poster child of bad timing. Remember the petrol fueled Hummer and Ford Excursion in 2008? Today Ford has a hybrid F-150 and a battery electric version will soon follow. Ram is out there touting the TRX while ignoring the new political and cultural landscape.

It is better to have traditional muscle to no longer be out front. Stellantis needs some different image cars.

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Dodge took the charger from a 2-door midsize muscle car in the 60s and 70's to a 2-door economy hatchback in the 80's and now an amazing 4-door muscle car that we know and love today. But I remember a different car dodge took from humble beginnings and made into a monster, the Neon. Dodge took it's stable grocery getter and turned it into the SRT4 neon and did all kinds of things with that little car and then killed the SRT4 name by putting it on the not-even-close Caliber. My point here is, it's time to let go of the traditional muscle cars and lets move into something new, different and better. A Dodge Neon sedan on the Giulia platform with the Quadrifoglio 505hp 2.9L V6 dubbed Daytona and a 425hp 3.0L from Maserati in the R/T would be an amazing and impressive performance vehicle. With styling cues from the Charger blended with some evolutionary cues from the neon would certainly make for a performance car that looks the part. Not to mention it still pays Homage to the history of Mopar performance while moving the brand forward and globalizing it. Give the car that true Dodge feel on the interior along with a muscular exterior and SRT tuned performance parts and performance packs and upgrades. Bring back the Dodge Stealth as a RWD based AWD 2-door high performance coupe with evolutionary styling from the last-gen Stealth and the viper and make it a 4-seater on the Gran-Turismo platform. Return the Chrysler 300 back to the 300M and 300M special built on the same platform as the Maserati Quattroporte and give it the sleek look that it once had while adding real power and performance and even hybrid technology. Put the Durango on the Levante platform and give it the 425hp 3.0L and the 505hp 2.9L V6 engines and go from there. By spreading the SRT brand into the rest of Stellantis, it allows the brand to add performance everywhere and incorporate the best of every brand into every brand. It's time to pull out of the 60's and 70's and do something newer.

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