Keeping the business card printers busy. . .

By Gary S. Vasilash

Recently Tim Kuniskis announced his retirement. Or, well, Stellantis announced his retirement. Kuniskis was the CEO of both Dodge brand at Stellantis and Ram.

Having had the opportunity to chat with him on several Dodge-related occasions I concluded that the man was really into the Dodge brand in a way that wasn’t a “This is my job so I’ll do what I need to do in order to fulfill what needs to be done, period.” There was evident commitment.

Over the past several years Dodge has become an enthusiast niche brand, one predicated on high-octane muscle cars. Dodge has made an art of creating cars that are pretty much unlike anything else—anymore.

It once was that there were the Dodge Challenger, Ford Mustang and the Chevy Camaro that would line up at stoplights on Telegraph or Woodward in metro Detroit like something out of the Fast and the Furious. (There was also the Pontiac GTO, but given the non-existence of that marque as a going concern, we’ll let that pass.)

The Mustang still has serious muscle in some of its trim packages, but arguably it has become something more “continental,” as the vehicle is also being sold in markets where drivers are more interested in roads that curve than going in a straight line for a quarter mile.

The Camaro has been put on a shelf.

So that pretty much leaves the Challenger and its four-door stablemate, Charger.

Muscle cars—the Dodge slogan is “Brotherhood of Muscle”—probably isn’t an optimal space to be in right now given concerns with emissions.

So Dodge is going to offer a car that will produce 670 hp and do a quarter mile in 11.5 seconds. An electric car.

About it Kuniskis said: “The electrified 2024 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack delivers Charger Hellcat Redeye levels of performance and announces its presence through the world’s first Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust.”

Even that car though it is a coupe not a sedan, the name “Charger” for an EV is just too good to pass up.

According to Dodge, the ’24 Charger battery has a nickel cobalt aluminum chemistry that is, in effect, “the battery-electric version of high-octane fuel.”

The Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust is said to produce “Hellcat levels of sound intensity”—or that should be generates that sound because while the Hellcat’s rumble is a consequence of combustion, there’s no combustion going on in the new car.

While there will also be versions of the ’24 Charger with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo Hurricane engine that produces up to 550 hp, and while that will probably handily outsell the electric version in the long run (i.e., there will probably be a whole lot of early adopters of the electric version because it is, well, cool, but then that number will be satisfied and the sales will go down as quickly as they went up), the corporate attention will be focused on the electric version because that’s what good corporate citizens do.

While it might seem that there is a correlation between Kuniskis’ retirement and the electrification of Dodge, it may simply be that after 30 years in a tough business the man needs a break.

But wait, there’s more. . .

Or it may be that things are really changing at Stellantis North America.

Kuniskis’ job is being split. Christine Feuell, who is running Chrysler, is taking on the Ram assignment.

Matt McAlear, who was running Dodge sales, is now CEO of the brand.

Earlier this year Carlos Zarlenga replaced Mark Stewart as chief operating officer for Stellantis North America. Zarlenga has been with Stellantis since 2022, which is certainly not a long time. (Stewart took over Goodyear: regardless of the propulsion system, vehicles need tires.)

Last week Matt Thompson was named senior vice president of Stellantis U.S. Retail Sales “effective immediately” because Jason Stoicevich, who had been named to that position in February, having been the chairman and CEO of Stellantis Canada before that, has left the company. Suddenly.

Something is evidently going on in Auburn Hills.

When there are changes like these, when the industry itself is in flux, you’ve got to wonder just what is going on. .