Stellantis, the parent company of basically every automaker in the United States, has announced a new long-term strategy that will focus on four of its brands. The two obvious choices are Jeep and Ram. The other two? Fiat and Peugeot. Not Dodge.
Stellantis is the fourth-largest automaker in the world. It owns more brands than you probably even realized: Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, Ram, Chrysler, Peugeot, Maserati, Opel, Lancia, Vauxhall, Citroen, and DS Automobiles. According to a Reuters report, Stellantis’ CEO, Antonio Filosa, is playing favorites. He has chosen four brands to invest in, and many car enthusiasts were shocked to see that Dodge was left off that list.
But the reasoning is simple: these four are the most profitable globally. Jeep and Ram are doing quite well in North America, accounting for 47% and 34% of Stellantis’ vehicle sales in the states, respectively. Stellantis wants to push that gas-powered off-roading lifestyle even harder in the United States after seeing its success, filling a niche as EVs decline. Meanwhile, Dodge accounts for only 8% of Stellantis’ vehicle sales in the United States, even lagging behind Chrysler.
Is Dodge in trouble?
Hearing how puny Dodge sales are is actually quite eye-opening. The name is extremely recognizable in the United States and I’d have assumed it was one of Stellantis’ top sellers. I guess what do I know about domestic automakers? But I guess its lineup of overpowered gas guzzlers isn’t as popular as it once was. The brand sold nearly 102,000 units in 2025, a 28% decline that was largely due to the discontinuation of the previous-generation Charger and Challenger. The Durango saw a 37% increase, so hope was not entirely lost.
And the Dodge Charger isn’t even a modern muscle anymore. It’s not even a Charger. I remember laughing when a group of car thieves took basically every Dodge they could think of out of a lot, but no mention of the Daytona. What would be the point? Nobody would take it from them. The Daytona launched last year and only sold 7,421 units.
Anyway, Dodge may be having an identity crisis, but Stellantis hasn’t given up on it yet. Don’t worry. Instead, the plan is to build models for Dodge and other “outside” brands using the core technology being developed for the primary four. This means more platform sharing as well. It could actually be a good thing for Dodge, which saw the return of the gas-powered Charger this year. It’s better than the Daytona, which my colleague believes deserves the hate it gets, but the new ones don’t hit the same as the Hellcat. The Dodge Charger R/T starts at 420 hp and 468 lb-ft of torque, and the Charger Scat Pack increases to 550 hp and 531 lb-ft.
Dodge could be planning something even better, however. It’s believed a V8-powered Charger is coming, with performance similar to the Hellcat, Demon, or Redeye, thanks to its rumored 900 horsepower. It could be a hybrid. Not much is known about this, but it seems like exactly what Dodge needs. I’m not sure how the platform sharing will work with something like this.
Stellantis will reveal the Strategic Plan on May 21st as part of its Investor Day, which could give us better insight into its plans for the main four, plus Dodge.
