#Stellantis

This is a marque which will celebrate its centenary next year with only a single model on sale in its showrooms, showing up as the Pacifica and its numerous variants. Suits in corner offices seek to right this detail with an electric vehicle they will unveil early next week.

Italian car buyers haven’t warmed to EVs with the same enthusiasm of other European countries, but the government looking to change that. Beyond investing with incentives and other efforts, the Italian government could take a stake in Stellantis, owner of Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Fiat. The automaker and government have been at odds for a while, as Setllantis has moved away from Italian auto production in favor of less expensive markets.

Maserati has delayed the launch of the seventh-generation Quattroporte, citing concerns that the model needs to adhere to a certain level of performance outlined by the manufacturer. However, the benchmarks the brand intends on reaching are largely a mystery and the company has already expressed some troubles related to transitioning its lineup toward all-electric vehicles.

With Stellantis opting to supplant the HEMI V8 with the Hurricane inline six-cylinder engine, there was a gnashing of teeth from Mopar fans who viewed the change as unpleasantly European. The manufacturer is well aware of this and has been fielding special editions of V8-powered models to profit as much as possible off the larger displacement engines before they’re discontinued.

It’s now the Dodge Durango’s turn, with Stellantis announcing “last call” editions of the V8-equipped SUV.

Some of the best, or at least most memorable, Super Bowl ads of the past few years came from Stellantis or General Motors.

Remember Will Ferrell schilling for GM? Or that Bruce Springsteen Jeep ad? Or when the Soprano children were reunited, again for GM?

Yeah, well, not this year. Both companies are going to sit this one out.

News broke earlier this week that Stellantis would pull out of auto shows, including the upcoming Chicago Auto Show, for the foreseeable future.

Stellantis pulled out of last year’s Los Angeles Auto Show and the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show, stating that it was trying to save money amid the now resolved UAW strike. It likewise announced it would be skipping CES for 2024 (formerly the Consumer Electronics Show) for the same reasons.

However, it’s starting to look like the company just isn’t interested in attending the big events anymore. Reports have claimed Stellantis will continue snubbing industry shows located in North America for the foreseeable future, with the Canadian International Auto Show (CIAS) being the next on the list. Stellantis says dealers can decide if they want to make an appearance at subsequent trade events while corporate takes a pass.

We've slowly been saying goodbye to the Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300, and Dodge Challenger -- now we can officially wave goodbye to the platform, including the Hemi.

Chrysler’s vehicle lineup has dwindled to the point that the automaker is left with a single horse in its stable: The Pacifica minivan. However, despite the contraction in its product offerings, the automaker isn’t going away, and neither is its van. The minivan pioneer has big plans for its family hauler, and company CEO Christine Feuell recently told journalists that it would roll out a mid-cycle update for the vehicle soon.

The Chrysler 300 is joining its corporate siblings in being discontinued after the 2023 model year, and the automaker recently announced that the last car has left the production line. Workers at the Brampton Ontario Assembly Plant recently gathered to commemorate the end of the line for the car, giving it a sendoff before the automaker moves further toward electrification.

When all else fails, blame the government. Stellantis, whose brands include Jeep, Dodge, Chrysler, and Fiat, recently announced layoffs that it blamed on the selective application of California Air Resource Board (CARB) rules. The move could impact thousands of jobs at the company’s Jeep factories in Detroit and Ohio, where it builds the Grand Cherokee, Wrangler, and Gladiator.

One of the most common refrains from automaker PR departments is “we cannot comment on future product.” Fortunately, the recent agreement between Stellantis and the UAW blew the doors wide open on that particular topic – at least for the Auburn Hills company.

Despite rampant talk about how the United Auto Workers’ stand-up strike and its resulting deals would bankrupt the automotive sector, the union strategy appears to have ended up costing the industry less than the labor strike GM endured all by its lonesome in 2019.

Canadian union Unifor wrapped a very brief strike on Monday after reaching a tentative deal with Stellantis. The union’s actions didn’t even last a full day before workers were notified that the strike had ended.

The resulting deal mimics what we’ve seen offered to the UAW after taking on all three American automakers since mid-September, with the Canadian pay bumps looking a little leaner than the percentages seen in the United States. Still, it’s a pretty good deal yielding Unifor members a noteworthy increase in hourly wages and a shorter path to receive top-level pay.

The United Auto Workers have reached a tentative agreement with all three Detroit automakers. Ford was the first to strike a deal, followed by Stellantis. But General Motors wasn’t far behind and managed to settle things with the union early Monday morning. Based on comments from select UAW members in the know, the final issue reportedly revolved around EV battery plants.