How do Dodge and Chrysler plan on surviving?

[Sherman Bird]

I remember CVCC, Vortec, and fast-burn cylinder heads. It didn't cost much more in materials or machining, either. Just the development non-recurring costs. All this other techno-glitz gizmos (VVT, ECM, GDI, MDS, whatevs) is absurd.

Inasmuch as the hydrocarbon, gasoline, is a liquid, it has to be broken down as much as possible into very fine mist in the fuel delivery system at the injector or at the carburetor venturi. The more turbulent the air/fuel mixture is, the more completely it will burn. This is why a vehicle run on natural gas does far better in lower emissions and complete fuel combustion that those on gasoline.

Soichiro Honda was a brilliant engineer. His collaboration with other automotive engineering teams was legendary.
GM kept the patent rights for the swirl combustion chamber, but licensed it out to Honda, as I read it.

In 1996, GM pulled the Vortec configuration off the shelf and dusted it off and employed it in 4,6, & 8 cylinder engines in order to meet OBD2 emissions mandates. The design also enhanced the fuel mileage, so that was a good thing. The only problem with the SBC (small block chevy) engine was the siamesed exhaust ports on the cylinder heads... thus the introduction of the LS engine family. The very first LS showed up in the 1997 Corvettes, the truck lines got them in late 1999. The "R" engine, the Vortec design SBC was phased out after the 2001 MY. The Vans and a few larger trucks used them.

Chrysler brought back the Hemi for similar reasons, I'd extrapolate.

As we enter this new phase of CAFE/emissions mandates, a new design of powertrains are headed this way.
The future will routinely see engines tuned to run over 15:1 AFR (air fuel ratio) up to 16:1 as I've read in research.
To address your comment concerning VVT, It's the best of both worlds when they function. Being able to adjust cam timing events to exploit the most efficiency out of an engine throughout it's RPM range is a huge part of WHY these newer 4 cylinder cars today are so friggin fast!

For me, seeing 4 cylinder cars of the 70's, 80's, and 90's go from 55 HP then to 200 routinely today, along with so many other advances in technology, one wonders how close to the limits of physics we really are!

 

[HEMIMANN]

Yes, yes - I'm a retired Mechanical Engineer and know all about that.

 

[BossHogg]

Has she tried replying with a price that hurts them? Could get a Bronco cheap if timed right and the dealership needs to move stock before the end of the month.
Although I do get wanting a particular color but if the $$ savings is big enough, green is a pretty color.. LOL

Great minds think alike but she is out of step with this line of thinking. My wife is very independent and the tom-boy type (likely the reason I'm attracted to her), a retired nurse and college professor (she taught nursing). She wants what she wants. It is nice to save some money but her position is, that this may be the last new vehicle I buy, and she could be right.

I'm thinking around the March time frame her vehicle will show up. I'm hopeful Ford will be offering up great incentives by then to get people into the dealers, we will see. The worst case is invoice less 2% as it stands now.

 

[Dalton]

The LX (300, Charger and way back, Magnum) and LC (Challenger) platform shared almost the entire running gear,suspension, interior including dash, seats etc. So it makes sense if they kill off one, they all would go. I have no idea what direction Stellantis is going, only that the true driving enthusiast is most like going to be disappointed. And EVs are dying on the vine, lots are full of them that all manufacturers except those like Tesla who only make an EV are struggling to move.

 

[CrazyHarleyGuy]

Back to the K car?

Where's Lee Iacocca when you need him?

Don't kid yourself.........this is sort of going to happen. Boring crap 4 Banger and 6 Banger cars and SUV's.
But this time.......all future offerings will have the underpinnings of all Stellantis's other brands.

The Hornet is just an Alfa Romeo Tonale

There is nothing and I mean nothing in Stellantis's other product lines that do anything for me and I think the general public in North America feels the same way.
Most of their other European type product lines are available in North American yet you just do not see them very often or hardly ever for that matter.

I think Stellantis is killing off too much to quickly and it is going to cost them a lot of pain.

 

[Scott0700]

The problem with Stellantis is they no longer take care of their customers.
Look how many have had transmission failures due to their poorly designed valve body (myself included). Love the Cummins, but this is the last Ram I’ll ever own. I was four months out of warranty time wise, but truck only had 44k on it (5yr/100k powertrain warranty). $6,500 later it was back on the road.

 

[Sherman Bird]

Back to the K car?

Where's Lee Iacocca when you need him?

Thank goodness he's not needed.

 

[mtnrider]

The problem with Stellantis All car companies is they no longer take care of their customers.

^ I fixed it for you.....

.

 

[Atcer2018]

Unless you can get China to think they are cool (which is pretty much what keeps Buick relevant) I don't see it doing anything other than tottering toward the history books.

They had “cool” but canned Pontiac. Smdh

 

[Docwagon1776]

https://www.autoweek.com/news/a46365918/next-gen-dodge-charger-teaser/

Pre-production model of the Charger. (Yeah, it's a 2 door again, a 4 door version will exist, though). As stated, rumors of its death have been greatly exaggerated.

I kind of dig it, aesthetically. Not that I'm a customer for a V6 or EV funmobile, but I'm sure there's a market for them.

 

[pacofortacos]

By 2025/26 model years Tesla will be selling a mid $20k Tesla, that's when sales will take off.

It may be that current domestic current automakers will just be the shell manufacturer with Tesla electronics as the heart of most every domestic vehicle. That is what the big money people are thinking is going to happen as Tesla is as much a software company as it is a hardware company.

I do think that if they really want wide scale EV adoption, a mid $15-18k priced model is needed - even it if only has a 100 mile range with a 70 mph top speed. That would serve a large number of people in suburban and urban areas and the price is cheap enough to make it feasible.
It might also be possible to build using a different type of battery vs. lithium.
Though I have seen stories as to where most people wouldn't own cars - everyone would use an Uber type service but driverless (when it comes about).

 

[HEMIMANN]

Tesla's cost structure can't afford a $20k sale price. They're terrible at manufacturing, hence their bottom quality rating despite years of production.

 

[HEMIMANN]

As an independent Chrysler would have to spend tens of billions of dollars to develop its own engines, transmissions and platforms. It might be able to secure engines and transmissions from other automakers but it is doubtful any automaker would share their platforms with an independent Chrysler. More to the point, independent automakers in the US have typically had a terrible success rate. There are some notable exceptions like Tesla, Rivian, and a few others, but typically they have backers with pretty deep financial resources. As an independent Chrysler would also struggle against the negative perception consumers have of their past autos.

How were they able to do so in the past?