CEO Tim Kuniskis Says Dodge is Safe

We were recently plagued with a barrage of foolish rumors insisting that the Dodge brand was going to be killed off as the Chrysler Group management looks to consolidate its US offerings but according to Dodge brand CEO Tim Kuniskis, those rumors are unfounded.

While speaking recently with The Detroit Bureau, Tim Kuniskis explained that Dodge is not on the chopping block and that the sporty brand has “a very solid future”.  He did confirm what many of us already knew – that there could be some Dodge brands eliminated or replaced as the company looks to do away with similar vehicles between its brands but those moves were strictly to remove redundancies in multi-brand dealerships – not to kill off the brand altogether.

This shouldn’t come as a big surprise to Mopar fans as we all know that Dodge is Chrysler’s bestselling brand and when you consider the number of vehicles that are unique to the Dodge brand – it would be hard for the Chrysler Group to kill off Dodge without bringing about an awkward introduction of new models to other brands within the company.  For instance, the Dart, Journey and Challenger are not available in a similar form to anything from the Chrysler, Fiat, Ram, or Jeep brands and in addition to Dodge being the bestselling overall brand – Dodge also sells some of the company’s bestselling models.

The Dodge Charger and Chrysler 300 are similar but the Charger routinely outsells the 300.  The Dodge Avenger and Chrysler 200 are similar but the Avenger routinely outsells the 200.  The Dodge Durango is a three-row large SUV that is based on the same architecture as the Jeep Grand Cherokee but the two are different enough that the Durango may have a place in the lineup even with the massive popularity of the Grand Cherokee.  Finally, there is the Dodge Grand Caravan and while it routinely outsells the Chrysler Town & Country, rumors continue to suggest that the stronger selling Grand Caravan will be killed off to improve sales of the more expensive Town & Country but in the long run – I have a hard time believing that the Chrysler Group would kill off the bestselling minivan on the market which also served to introduce the minivan back in the mid 1980s.

In other words, even though there are a handful of Dodge products which are very similar to models from other brands, the Dodge option is often the better selling of the two so if anything would be killed off – you would think that it would be the less popular models.  Based on this simple bit of information and the fact that Dodge is – and has long been – Chrysler’s bestselling brand – Dodge should be safe for years to come.

Source: The Detroit Bureau

Patrick Rall

"Before I was old enough to walk, my dad was taking me to various types of racing events, from local drag racing to the Daytona 500," says Patrick Rall, a lifetime automotive expert, diehard Dodge fan, and respected auto journalist for over 10 years. "He owned a repair shop and had a variety of performance cars when I was young, but by the time I was 16, he was ready to build me my first drag car – a 1983 Dodge Mirada that ran low 12s. I spent 10 years traveling around the country, racing with my dad by my side. While we live in different areas of the country, my dad still drag races at 80 years old in the car that he built when I was 16 while I race other vehicles, including my 2017 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and my 1972 Dodge Demon 340.

"Although I went to college for accounting, my time in my dad’s shop growing up allowed me the knowledge to spend time working as a mechanic before getting my accounting degree, at which point I worked in the office of a dealership group. While I was working in the accounting world, I continued racing and taking pictures of cars at the track. Over time, I began showing off those pictures online and that led to my writing.

"Ten years ago, I left the accounting world to become a full-time automotive writer and I am living proof that if you love what you do, you will never “work” a day in your life," adds Rall, who has clocked in time as an auto mechanic, longtime drag racer and now automotive journalist who contributes to nearly a dozen popular auto websites dedicated to fellow enthusiasts.

"I love covering the automotive industry and everything involved with the job. I was fortunate to turn my love of the automotive world into a hobby that led to an exciting career, with my past of working as a mechanic and as an accountant in the automotive world provides me with a unique perspective of the industry.

"My experience drag racing for more than 20 years coupled with a newfound interest in road racing over the past decade allows me to push performance cars to their limit, while my role as a horse stable manager gives me vast experience towing and hauling with all of the newest trucks on the market today.

"Being based on Detroit," says Rall, "I never miss the North American International Auto Show, the Woodward Dream Cruise and Roadkill Nights, along with spending plenty of time raising hell on Detroit's Woodward Avenue with the best muscle car crowd in the world.

Rall can be contacted at QuickMirada@Yahoo.com

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