Timothy Kuniskis joined Chrysler when America's third-largest automaker was known as the Chrysler Corporation. Almost 32 years later, the man who transformed the Dodge brand into the Brotherhood of Muscle is retiring. He will be replaced as chief executive officer of the Dodge and Ram brands on June 1, 2024 by two high-ranking executives.
Christine Feuell joined Stellantis in 2021 as the chief executive officer of Chrysler. She previously worked at Honeywell, Adient, Johnson Controls, and the Ford Motor Company. The newcomer joined Ford back in 1994 as business strategy and communications manager at the customer service division, and Christine worked her way up to the role of director of global marketing strategy.
Christine has been appointed chief executive officer of the ailing Ram brand at Stellantis, while Matt McAlear will serve as big kahuna of the Dodge brand from June 1 onwards. Matt steps up to the role of CEO from his current position of senior VP of global sales and marketing at the Dodge brand.
Dodge had a pretty rough quarter in the United States, moving 42,948 vehicles in the first three months of 2024 as opposed to 50,975 in the first quarter of 2023. Ram fared much worse, reporting 95,308 sales compared to 128,722 last year. The reasons behind these declines are rather simple.
Dodge's current lineup is a bit of a dog's breakfast, for it's split between the Alfa Romeo Tonale-twinned Hornet crossover and the DaimlerChrysler-era Durango sport utility vehicle. Both the L-platform Charger and Challenger ended series production in December 2023, whereas the all-new Charger is due in late 2024 with electric muscle. For the 2025 model year, the gas-powered SIXPACK will sweeten the deal with a twin-turbo I6 rather than the iron-block V8 we all know and love.
Photo: Dodge
Speaking of the Hellcat, the most interesting member of the third-gen HEMI engine family wouldn't have been possible without Kuniskis. He faced a helluva lot of corporate red tape, but eventually, Sergio Marchionne-era Fiat Chrysler gave the Hellcat the green light for production.
707 horsepower may not seem impressive after the 1,025-horse Challenger SRT Demon 170, but in 2014 for the 2015 model year, that was borderline insane for a series-production muscle car. By comparison, the 2014 model year Shelby GT500 made 662 ponies, while GM's Chevrolet Camaro somehow failed to crack the 650-horse mark.
Although Kuniskis agreed to star in a cringe-tastic promo for the 2024 model year Charger Daytona, his legacy at Chrysler will forever be the Brotherhood of Muscle. Had there been no Timothy Kuniskis at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in the early 2010s, the Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk and Ram 1500 TRX may have never happened.
Regarding the Ram truck brand, the DT-series 1500 cannot be had with a V8 for model year 2025. Only the Pentastar V6 and the aforementioned Hurricane I6 will have to make do in the half-ton pickup, with the latter engine making 540 horsepower in the TRX-replacing RHO.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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