Question of the Week: Is Stellantis Turning Your Head?
Two years ago, Dodge finally lived up to its commitment to ending its run of long-in-the-tooth muscle cars — the Charger and Challenger — and then tried to usher in a new kind of muscle car: an electric one.
Ram killed the Hemi, ushering in new, powerful six-cylinders, in a so many different variants it was hard to keep track of. In the meantime, Jeep was well into its revival of the Wagoneer nameplate with the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, plus the all-electric and somewhat smaller Wagoneer S. Alfa Romeo got a new hybrid small crossover, the Tonale, and Chrysler got … whispers.
Collectively, the effort got a yawns and head scratches, and ultimately it played a role departure of Carlos Tavares. Fast forward to 2026, and not-so-new CEO Antonio Filosa’s Stellantis looks different.
Dodge has gas-powered muscle cars again. Ram has a Hemi again, and Alfa … ok, it’s still got the Tonale, but Rome wasn’t built in a day!? Right? Also, Tim Kuniskis has returned to help bring the American brands back to prominence while dropping just enough curse words to make us giggle and not really offend anyone.
Now we’re nearly into the final quarter of 2026 with the Filosa-endorsed changes and we’re wondering: Are they enough? Is the shift to embrace the past while still moving forward product-wise getting your attention and possibly your bank account? Let us know!
[Images: Stellantis]
Become a TTAC insider. Get the latest news, features, TTAC takes, and everything else that gets to the truth about cars first by subscribing to our newsletter.
Michael Strong has spent more than 25 years writing about the automotive industry. A Detroit-area native, he’s written about everything from local car shows to product reviews to financial news. Currently he writes and edits for a variety of national and local publications. He’s also a longtime member of the Automotive Press Association and the International Motor Press Association, and a graduate of Georgia Southern University. Hail Southern! Despite a love for ’70s land yachts and BMWs from the late ’80s and early ’90s, his personal vehicle is neither of those.
More by Michael Strong
Comments
Join the conversation
Their current lineup holds very little interest for me. But some of the future stuff - in particular the Fiat based Dodge hot hatch - could be interesting.
Slap a Chrysler 300 grill on all the unwanted electro-dodges and euro-hybrids and Chrysler can be relevant as the EV/Hybrid division. The Dodge boys don't want them but some of us old farts just might.
On another note, my late 90's Cherokee had an indestructible I-6. Let a non-turbo Hurricane I-6 fill this need today. Keep it light, reliable and worthy of the badge and they may be able to reclaim some of the Cherokee madness of the 90"s and early 00"s.