Tim Kuniskis, the executive perhaps most influential in spreading horsepower around Stellantis's U.S. brands, is stepping down from his role as the head of Dodge and Ram.
Stellantis, the parent company of both brands, announced on Friday that as of June 1, Chrysler brand head Christine Feuell will take on the lead at Ram. Matt McAlear, currently head of sales at Dodge, will become that brand's chief.
Kuniskis, who is retiring, has worked for Stellantis's North American brands for more than three decades. While he's influenced a number of products in that time he will mostly be remembered for Dodge's Hellcat line that started with the original Challenger SRT Hellcat and Charger SRT Hellcat.
They were launched for the 2015 model year with 707 hp from a supercharged 6.2-liter V-8. Performance only went up from there. Additional highlights included 2018's Challenger SRT Demon and the 2023 Challenger SRT Demon 170, the latter of which served as the sendoff for the line.
Kuniskis told Motor Authority he grew up drag racing with his dad.
2024 Dodge Charger Daytona
Stellantis is now phasing out the V-8 and plans to focus on electric powertrains for its performance future. A redesigned Charger has been revealed for the 2024 model year, and will be offered with either electric power or the new Hurricane engine, a twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter inline-6.
Shortly after graduating with a business degree from State University of New York, Kuniskis joined Chrysler as a trainee in 1992. He worked his way up to become a senior manager of marketing at Chrysler in 2009, when the company was merged with Fiat. He became the head of Fiat in North America just two years later and then the head of Dodge two years after that. He also briefly headed Jeep and Maserati before taking on the head role at Ram along with his role as head of Dodge.
He leaves Stellantis at time when the company's sales have slowed, at least in the U.S. CNBC reported that Stellantis' U.S. sales declined by 1.2% last year, in an overall market that grew 12.3%, making Stellantis the only major automaker to experience declining sales here. The automaker's sales have fallen further this year, with the first quarter results down 10% compared to a year ago. The sales decline has come during a period of product transition: the long-lived Charger and Challenger have ceased production and their replacement won't be ready until later this year.
