The announcement Friday comes as
For years Kuniskis was the spokesman for high-performance American cars, introducing many powerful models including last year's 1,025 horsepower Challenger SRT Demon 170.
But in March, Kuniskis led the unveiling of two battery-powered versions of the Charger muscle car, while keeping one gas-powered version of the Charger without a big Hemi V8.
Recently Kuniskis was CEO of both the Dodge and Ram brands. He’ll be replaced at Ram by
Both brands are struggling with Dodge phasing out the old versions of the gas powered Charger and Challenger as it moves to electric vehicles. Dodge sales through April are down more than 17%. The brand also is selling the Hornet small SUV made in
Ram sales are down over 29% so far this year as a
Kuniskis' passion and vision for the Dodge brand will be a loss, but someone else at
“Dodge muscle car future is going through change, regardless of who is at the helm," Brinley said in an email. “Success will still come to product execution and whether the vision for the Dodge brand aligns with how customers see the brand. It wouldn’t be wise to presume no one else can champion the brand.”
At a March event in
Kuniskis defended keeping the gasoline version and said the electric muscle cars, which will roar like gas-engine vehicles, will emphasize performance over efficiency.
Under normal circumstance, he said, about 17 million vehicles are sold annually in the
Kuniskis said he would expect criticism from environmental groups if Dodge had not come out with electric versions of the Charger.
“It’s designed for performance and it has low range, but it’s still a battery electric vehicle. They’re going to hate on that? Seems kind of odd,” he said.
Globally,
The company blamed the revenue dip on lower sales as it manages production and inventory while launching 25 new models this year, including 18 electric vehicles. Chief Financial Officer
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