It's been a tough several decades for Mopar fans, starting with the Chrysler Corporation's descent into the #1 purveyor of minivans and K-cars in the late 70s/early 80's. That was followed up with the beloved American brand falling into the hands of foreign entities like Daimler-Benz, the Canadian government, Fiat, and ultimately Stellantis.

Things are looking worse because Stellantis is phasing out almost all Chrysler and Dodge models, which could spell the end for these iconic American brands. Maybe this is part of a rebuilding phase, but all indicators point to the elimination of Chrysler and Dodge, with Jeep and RAM possibly on the chopping block next.

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Dodge Doesn't Fit In With Stellantis

YouTuber, Racer X, is so concerned that Dodge is going away that he made a video, and his first solid argument is that the American brand doesn't fit in with Stellantis. Among the brands under the Stellantis umbrella, most are makers of tiny European vehicles.

Dodge on the other hand is known in recent years primarily for big V-8 muscle cars, and it simply makes no sense for Stellantis to hang on to that. With Alfa Romeo, Citroën, Fiat, and Peugeot in Stellantis' stable, the company's vision is for compact vehicles designed for the European market. It's hard to imagine that vision includes muscle cars, full-size trucks, or even 4x4s.

Car and Driver reports that Stellantis Carlos Tavares couldn't exactly say what his plans for Chrysler was during a 2021 virtual media call. Tavares claimed that he wants to give Chrysler a future, but added that future, "depends on what is proposed for the brand." He also said that he considers Chrysler, along with Fiat and Peugeot the "3 pillars" of the company saying,

“I would feel uncomfortable to think that for one of those three pillars we don’t have a clear vision and destination for the brand."

That was two years ago and so far no clear vision for Chrysler or Dodge has emerged, besides phasing them out, so this must be terribly uncomfortable for Tavares. Maybe Stellantis was hoping that Chrysler would give the company a foothold in the American market, but the rest of their brands don't do well here, nor are they designed to succeed in the U.S. It's a complete mystery why Stellantis is hanging on to Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep considering how far away these brands are from the rest of the company's line-up.

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Chrysler And Dodge Are Disappearing Before Our Eyes

Blue 2023 Doge Hornet
Dodge
Dodge Hornet parked on a mountain road.

Besides not fitting in with Stellantis, there are more tangible reasons to believe Chrysler and Dodge are not long for this world, as they are both fading away. Both Ford and GM have dozens of models each, covering every market (EVs, sedans, SUVs, trucks, muscle cars, etc..) available in 2023.

This year Chrysler makes only two models: the Pacifica minivan and the 300 sedan, and this is the last year for the 300, so the company will be down to one next year. That is, if Chrysler even exists in 2024. Chrysler has announced the Airflow concept EV that is slated for a 2025 release, but again, will the brand still be around by then if they don't have any vehicles to sell in the meantime?

Over at Dodge, the era of the muscle car is over, with 2023 being the last year for gas-powered Challengers and Chargers. These two popular models are being replaced by an all-electric Charger Daytona SRT for 2024. It's a little ironic that they are giving this EV the SRT badge considering, as SpeedTwitch reports, Stellantis has axed Chrysler's Street & Racing Technology (SRT) performance division.

These are the guys that brought us the Viper, the Hellcat, and everything fast and cool the company has done since 1989. Even worse, Dodge seems like they are putting all their eggs into the crossover plug-in hybrid Hornet, which is pretty much just an Alfa Romeo Tonale. Stellantis is getting rid of the muscle cars Americans want and replacing them with European-style subcompacts they don't want.

It also looks like the end for the Jeep Cherokee as reported by MotorBiscuit. The Belvedere, Illinois plant that made the Cherokee has been shut down permanently and there have been no announcements regarding a new plant or plans to manufacture the vehicle in the future. Jeep hasn't officially discontinued the Cherokee, but they also don't have any plans to continue making it, which sounds an awful lot like it's gone for good.

RELATED: Here's Why Chrysler Is As Good As Dead

The Fear Of A World Without Dodge Is Real

A 2022 6.2L Supercharged Dodge Charger burning rubber
Dodge
A 3/4 rear shot of an orange 2022 Dodge Charger spinning its rear wheels on the track

The Jeep Wrangler and RAM trucks seem safe for now, but how long will they survive with the crumbling Chrysler empire? It is clear none of these brands fit in with Stellantis' vision, and the umbrella corporation appears happy to let them die unceremonious deaths. When typing "Is Dodge" into a Google search, the top autofill response is "a dead car company?" It's not a paranoid conspiracy to think Dodge is going by the wayside as the signs are everywhere.

It's always painful when a foreign company snaps up an iconic American brand, like when InBev bought Anheuser-Busch. At least, however, the Belgian conglomerate continued to brew Budweiser. Stellantis is killing off all the models Mopar fans love, which seems like a move that will do in Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, and Ram for good. This is like if Vespa bought Harley-Davidson and announced they were transitioning to all-electric mopeds.