It’s only been four years since Fiat Chrysler Automobiles merged with the PSA Group to form Stellantis, but the slow-motion train wreck has seemed like an eternity to Mopar fans. Traditionally, Mopar has been Chrysler and all the divisions under its umbrella, like Dodge and Plymouth (defunct), with Jeep as well as Ram coming along later. The Stellantis stewardship of the sacred Mopar brand has been one blunder after another, which has alienated the faithful and damaged the reputation of the automaker’s divisions.
The comedy of errors could be chalked up to simple incompetence, but it seems so deliberate that we have to wonder if Stellantis is trying to kill Mopar off for reasons unknown. There have been cost-cutting measures that have diminished the quality of vehicles, and discontinuations of extremely popular models that only make sense if the endgame is to wipe Mopar off the map. Here are 10 reasons why we think Stellantis is trying to nuke Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram into oblivion.
To give you the most up-to-date and accurate information possible, the data used to compile this article was sourced from various manufacturers and other authoritative sources, including Reuters, Fortune, and ACSI.
Cost-Cutting/Quality Control
Slashing And Burning Mopar To The Ground
Almost everything on this list starts here, with Stellantis cutting corners everywhere possible to save some short-term cash. Before his abrupt resignation in 2024, Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares instituted a cost-cutting initiative he called the “Dog House Strategy”, which saw the company skimping on every aspect from manufacturing to marketing involving Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. According to Reuters, the Stellantis Board had a major problem with Tavares’ short-sighted plan, pointing out that it would not only hamper future development and innovation but also cause quality issues. Also, these things would affect sales, which they most certainly have.
Total Stellantis U.S. Sales
- 2021: 1,777,394 units
- 2022: 1,547,076 units
- 2023: 1,527,090 units
- 2024: 1,303,570 units
The Ram 1500, Wrangler, and Grand Cherokee have had a rash of recalls in recent years, while the Jeep brand consistently ranks as the least reliable vehicle since Stellantis’ takeover. Ironically, Tavares acknowledged this in an interview with Fortune magazine, basically saying they were building and shipping broken Ram trucks. There was, however, no explanation for how cutting costs further was going to result in higher-quality vehicle manufacturing, but he resigned before anyone could call him out on that one. Mopar fans are generally a loyal group, but the shoddy quality has definitely driven them away.
Discontinuing The ICE Challenger And Charger
Like Killing A Cash Cow
One of the first major moves Stellantis made after the merger was to kill off the popular gas-powered Challenger and Charger muscle cars. In 2022, when they made the announcement that 2023 would be the last year of production, Dodge moved 142,115 units of these awesome street machines, which are not the kind of numbers that get vehicles canceled. Well, except with Stellantis, which obviously did it. The corporation cited the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standard for ditching the gas-guzzling muscle cars, but they could have just as easily created some more fuel-efficient lower trims to even things out.
Challenger Sales Under Stellantis
- 2021: 54,314 units
- 2022: 55,060 units
- 2023: 24,275 units
- 2024: 27,056 units (2023 model)
Charger Sales Under Stellantis
- 2021: 78,389 units
- 2022: 87,055 units
- 2023: 46,732 units
- 2024: 24,095 units (2023 model)
Stellantis threw salt on the wound by also announcing that the ICE Challenger and Charger would be replaced by an EV, which we’ll get to in a second. Stylistically, the Charger Daytona is actually pretty hot, but it could have been used in a better way. Both the ICE Challenger and Charger were due for a refresh, so they should have made the four-door version the Charger, and a two-door version with some different sheet metal as the Challenger. Then, there could have been powertrain options for these cars ranging from Hemi Hellcats to electric motors. That didn’t happen, and now Dodge doesn’t have anything to fill the gap of the hundreds of thousands of muscle cars they used to sell.
86ing The Street Racing & Technology Division
SRT Is DOA
The actual first act of insanity by Stellantis was nixing the Street Racing & Technology Division in 2021, as a way of achieving something that only corporate understands. SRT started as “Team Viper,” which, duh, designed the mighty Dodge Viper. They then became Performance Vehicle Operations, before settling in as SRT. Whatever name they went by, the division was responsible for making high-performance Mopars with ferocious engines, upgraded brakes, and suspensions, for track-ready rides straight from the factory.
SRT’s Most Killer Rides
- 2013 SRT Viper
- 2015 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat
- 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon
- 2018 Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk
- 2021 Ram 1500 TRX
Potent Mopars still bore the SRT designation after it was dissolved, but there was no dedicated division behind those letters. More importantly, there was no team working hard to find ways to make Mopars faster and badder. There were no mad geniuses working on the next Viper or Hellcat, which was a pretty good indication that Stellantis wanted to fade performance out entirely. This entry, however, may be one area in which Stellantis has acknowledged that it screwed up royally. Dodge has indicated that the SRT could be making a comeback, and let’s hope that’s true.
Dodge Charger Daytona EV Fiasco
EV Muscle Ain’t The Real Thing
As was already mentioned, the Dodge Charger Daytona is a sharp-looking ride, but it comes with unwanted batteries and electric motors, while it is desperately missing a Hemi V-8. Dodge touts this as the world’s only EV muscle car, and there’s a reason why they were able to corner the market in this nonexistent segment, namely, people don’t want it. Buyers looking for EV performance don’t have Dodge on their short list, and Mopar muscle enthusiasts despise the idea of driving a car with glorified blender motors. Stellantis replaced something people loved (the ICE Challenger and Charger) with something nobody asked for.
Dodge 2025 First Quarter Sales
- Durango – 13,701 units
- Hornet – 4,108 units
- Charger Daytona – 1,947 units
- Charger – 1,052 units
- Challenger – 922 units
- Journey – 1 unit
The Charger Daytona EV was never going to be a raging success like Dodge’s ICE muscle cars, but its awkward rollout certainly didn’t help. The Daytona EV was supposed to start shipping at the beginning of 2024, when demand for all-electrics was much higher than it is now, but that didn’t happen. Allegedly, they hit dealers in the last part of 2024, but Stellantis reports no sales in Q4, so either they weren’t ready or nobody bought one. The sales figures for the first quarter are downright embarrassing, with the Daytona EV getting beaten by leftover stock of the 2023 ICE Challenger and Charger. Things picked up a bit in Q2 for the Daytona EV with 2,352 sales, but that’s still a colossal flop, and doesn’t come close to what the ICE muscle was doing.
Dodge Hornet Catastrophe
Alfa Romeo Is A Beta Mopar
In 2023, Stellantis pushed the Alfa Romeo Tonale compact SUV onto Dodge, forcing them to sell it as the Hornet. It’s not just based on the Tonale, but the same exact ride, and it’s built in Italy, so definitely not a Mopar. Dodge has a long history of badge-engineering imports, but while the Stealth, based on the Mitsubishi 3000GT, was completely awesome, the Hornet is pretty blah and kind of a piece of crap. Also, Dodge is a big-boy SUV brand, as the puny discontinued Caliber, Nitro, and Journey can attest to. Not surprisingly, the Hornet hasn’t been a big seller for Dodge.
Dodge Hornet Sales
- Q3 2023: 4,722 units
- Q4 2023: 4,964 units
- Q1 2024: 7,419 units
- Q2 2024: 7,298 units
- Q3 2024: 3,848 units
- Q4 2024: 4,993 units
- Q1 2025: 4,108 units
- Q2 2025: 1,539 units
While sales of the Dodge Hornet aren’t as bad as the units moved by the Charger Daytona EV, they still aren’t what anyone would call impressive. To put that into perspective, the Durango had a down year in 2024, selling 59,358 units while the Hornet only moved 20,559. But wait, there’s reason to believe that very few actual consumers purchased a Hornet in 2024, as a lot of them probably went to rental companies. Google Gemini AI has detected a significant number of used 2024 Hornets for sale from car rental companies, and while it’s not ready to give an exact number, it says it’s likely that 30 percent of these Alfa Romeo Mopar wannabees were fleet sales.
Chrysler No Longer Builds Cars
Seriously?
Stellantis may indeed want to keep Dodge, Jeep, and Ram around, and is just making some bone-headed decisions, but they very clearly want to stick a shiv in Chrysler, letting it die on the factory floor. In 2024, the 300 was discontinued, meaning that the only vehicle Chrysler produced in 2025 was the Pacifica minivan, marking the first time in the automaker’s history that they didn’t make a car. Okay, during WWII, they, like all American automakers, were focused on war production, so there were years without a car, but generally speaking, Chrysler has built sedans and coupes for its entire existence.
History of Chrysler’s Vehicle Lineup
- 1925: 1 model
- 1935: 6 models
- 1945: 0 models
- 1955: 4 models
- 1965: 4 models
- 1975: 4 models
- 1985: 5 models
- 1995: 6 models
- 2005: 5 models
- 2015: 3 models
- 2025: 1 model
Making this seem even more like an evil plot to snuff out an iconic American brand, 2025 is the 100th anniversary of the founding of Chrysler. You’d think this would be something significant that is worth celebrating, but instead of a special edition commemorating a century of excellence and innovation, Chrysler didn’t have any cars to sell at all. A Stellantis press release brags about how they are celebrating Chrysler’s 100th anniversary with a seven-part video series, which is exactly as lame as it sounds. That same release claims the Pacifica is getting a refresh in 2026, and that a couple of other models are coming at an unspecified time, one of which is a crossover, so still no cars for Chrysler.
The Hurricane Inline-6 Tries To Replace The Hemi V-8
Stellantis’ Unnatural Disaster
In addition to discontinuing the ICE Challenger and Charger, Stellantis also put the Hemi V-8 on the chopping block. 2023 was supposed to be the last year for a Mopar V-8, but it got a slight reprieve with the Dodge Durango and Jeep Wrangler Rubicon, though it was supposed to be only for a year or two. It seems almost certain that the Hemi V-8 is coming back, but Stellantis did try to kill it, replacing it with the 3.0-liter twin-turbo Hurricane inline-six. Now, the Hurricane inline-six is capable of up to 550 horsepower, which doesn’t suck, but for Mopar fans, nothing has the visceral awesomeness of an eight-cylinder engine with a hemispherical combustion chamber.
Hemi’s V-8 Legacy of Performance
- 1957-1958 392 FirePower V-8: 390 HP
- 1966-1971 426 Street Hemi V-8: 425 HP
- 2003-present 5.7-liter Hemi V-8: 390 HP
- 2005-2010 6.1-liter Hemi V-8: 425 HP
- 2012-present 6.4-liter Hemi 392 V-8: 525 HP
- 2015-present 6.2-liter Hemi Hellcat V-8: 707 HP
The Hemi engine has been a part of Mopar performance since the 1950s with the FirePower V-8s, and has been under the hood of every muscle car that matters since. Trying to pass off a six-cylinder as a viable alternative is an insult. The Hemi V-8s are Chrysler Hemi V-8s, while the Hurricane is a Stellantis engine manufactured in Mexico, so it ain’t Mopar. Stellantis really wanted this to be their top performance engine, but the Mopar Nation is simply not having it, and thankfully, it looks like there’s been a change of heart.
No V-8 For 2025 Ram
Rams Without V-8s Are Lambs
In a serious case of not being able to read the room, Stellantis canceled the V-8 for Ram trucks in 2025. The Durango still had access to V-8 power, but the Ram 1500 was not extended the same courtesy. For the first time since 1953, a Dodge pickup didn’t have a V-8 option, and every year since the Ram truck pickup was introduced in 1981, it was pumping eight cylinders until 2025. Even worse, the killer TRX muscle truck with its 6.2-liter Hemi Hellcat V-8 was replaced by the RHO packing the non-Mopar 3.0-liter Hurricane six-cylinder. Truck buyers want V-8s, and Ram fans demand Hemi power, but for some reason, Stellantis couldn’t figure this out.
TRX V.s. RHO Truck Drag Race
|
2024 Ram 1500 TRX |
2025 Ram 1500 RHO |
|
|
Engine |
6.2-liter supercharged V-8 |
3.0-liter twin-turbo I-6 |
|
Horsepower |
702 HP |
540 HP |
|
Torque |
650 LB-FT |
521 LB-FT |
|
Transmission |
Eight-speed automatic |
Eight-speed automatic |
|
0-60 Time |
4.5 seconds |
4.6 seconds |
|
Quarter-mile |
12.9 seconds |
13.1 seconds |
|
Top Speed |
118 MPH |
118 MPH |
They probably got a clue after the first quarter sales of the 2025 Ram 1500 were down by 47 percent, versus the V-8-powered 2024. The second quarter of 2025 was a little better, but still down by 11.2 percent, which should be a wake-up call. Apparently, it was as Ram is reportedly bringing V-8 power back to the 1500 in 2026. The Ram 1500 has been Car and Driver’s best full-size pickup every year since 2019, including the V-8-less 2025 model, so this is something that Stellantis is going out of its way to ruin. Thankfully, someone at Stellantis took the red pill and realized that a Ram 1500 without a V-8 is only viable in The Matrix.
Impending Charger SIX PACK Disaster
The Dodge Charger SIX PACK Is Missing A Couple of Cans
Stellantis tried to ease the sting of canceling the ICE Challenger and Charger, replacing them with an EV, by announcing there would be a gas-powered version of the new Charger, known as the SIX PACK. This car will supposedly feature the 3.0-liter twin-turbo Hurricane inline-six and have a variant that cranks out 550 horsepower. Given the amazing styling of the Charger Daytona EV, a powerful internal combustion engine variant would seem appealing, but the complete lack of a Hemi V-8 option rings hollow with the Mopar muscle enthusiasts. Again, Mopars were made for V-8s, and without them, it’s just not the same driving experience.
Dodge Muscle Cars Equipped With a 440-Cubic-Inch Six Pack V-8
- 1969-1970 Super Bee
- 1970-1971 Challenger R/T
- 1970 Charger R/T
- 1970 Coronet R/T
- 1971 Charger R/T
- 1971 Charger Super Bee
- 1972 Charger Rallye
Things get wonkier with the Charger SIX PACK because, so far, it’s a no-show. Originally, it was slated to ship a quarter after the Daytona EV in 2024. That was amended to the beginning of 2025, then the summer of 2025, and now maybe in 2025. Clearly, there is something wrong with this car that Dodge is trying to work out, and meanwhile, any kind of hype it may have had is fading. The best case scenario is that Dodge is scrambling to put a Hemi V-8 in this thing, because they realize their base is not interested in turbocharged six-cylinder “muscle.” We’re all crossing our fingers, but Stellantis hasn’t established itself as a company that delivers what buyers want, so we’ll have to wait and see.
Destroying Mopar’s Reputation
Racing To The Bottom
All of these mistakes by Stellantis have had devastating consequences for its Mopar brands. The American Customer Satisfaction Index conducts yearly surveys to rank businesses, including automakers, on how much consumers like or dislike various brands. Occupying the bottom of the mass market vehicle brands are Ram, Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep, which is shameful. This is not a quality rating, but rather, as the name would suggest, customer satisfaction. The Ram 1500 is consistently rated by the automotive press as the best truck on the market, but Ram’s reputation with consumers is in the toilet, so clearly something is amiss.
2025 ACSI Top Five Brands
- Subaru
- Mazda
- Toyota
- Buick
- GMC
2025 ACSI Bottom Five Brands
- Ram
- Chrysler
- Dodge
- Jeep
- Kia
That’s the attitude of general consumers, but if there were a survey among loyal Mopar muscle and truck fans, it would likely be much bleaker. Quite frankly, the Mopar Nation feels betrayed by these baffling moves from Stellantis, as they are a company that doesn’t understand the U.S. Market or the legendary brands they have been blessed with. There appear to be some signs that Stellantis realizes that they have erred, like putting the Hemi V-8 back in the Ram, possibly reviving the SRT, and maybe letting Chrysler build a car, but it’s going to take more than that to repair the damage they’ve done.