Chrysler will be a one-vehicle brand no longer, and there’s a new Dodge performance car coming.
At Stellantis’ investor day Thursday, May 21 in Auburn Hills, where investors and news reporters gathered from across the world to hear Stellantis sweeping new game plan as it attempts to revive business, the company’s head of North American operations revealed that Chrysler will release three new vehicles in the future, and Dodge will launch an entry-level SUV with the performance DNA of Dodge.
The announcements made by the company, beyond the new vehicles, are significant. The automaker said it is shifting its focus and directing its spending into just four core brands in its 14-brand portfolio, emphasizing Jeep and Ram in North America and Fiat and Peugeot abroad. The rest of the company’s brands (Chrysler and Dodge in the United States) will now be considered “regional brands” as opposed to the four global brands. Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa said about 60% of the company’s $70 billion pledge until 2030 will be spent on the North American market.
Despite being relegated to regional brands, Chrysler and Dodge are getting some new cars.
Stellantis’ Head of North American Operations (and the CEO of Ram Trucks) Tim Kuniskis announced the new cars to a dimly lit auditorium of reporters and investors.
“Can Chrysler be more than the minivan brand? Clearly, it has been much more in the past, or it would have never survived 100 years,” Kuniskis said. “But when your showroom covers North America with brands like Jeep, Dodge, Ram, do you really mean Chrysler? Absolutely you do.”
There will be three new crossovers, he said. On a slideshow behind him, renderings of three SUV-shaped vehicles sat draped with dark blue sheets.
Kuniskis said one will be a midsize SUV on Stellanits’ brand new universal STLA One platform (also a new development announced at investor day) with two cheaper SUVs that will be rebadged European models. He expects them all to cost between $25,000-$35,000.
The company did not announce exactly when the products will launch, nor where they will be built.
Dodge is getting a performance SUV, too, Kuniskis said — one that will resemble the poorly performing Dodge Hornet, “but the way we should have done it the first time,” Kuniskis said.
The other two U.S. brands, which will receive the bulk of future funding, are already in the throes of a full refresh and will also get some new vehicles.
Ram is undergoing a full refresh and Jeep is continuing on its blitz of new vehicles, including a revived Cherokee and an all-electric off-roader launching this year, the Recon. Kuniskis announced the Recon will also launch as a gas-powered version, along with a new Compass, Jeep’s compact SUV. Almost all Jeep and Ram products will be refreshed, Kuniskis said.
The announcement comes a day after Ram announced a new high-performance vehicle of its own, the Rumble Bee. Calling the new segment “muscle trucks,” Ram is shortening its 1500 pickups by 13 inches, slapping on a widebody kit and selling street trucks straight from the factory, including a top-level version with a Hellcat-supercharged HEMI V8 engine, which will bear the SRT (Street and Racing Technology) badge.
Liam Rappleye covers Stellantis and the UAW for the Detroit Free Press. Contact him: LRappleye@freepress.com.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Stellantis confirms 3 new Chryslers, new Dodge coming
Reporting by Liam Rappleye, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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