Fiat Chrysler’s famed Street & Racing Technology (SRT) division has apparently been disbanded. This follows shortly after the creation of Stellantis – the fourth largest automaker is helmed by Carlos Tavares (also leader of the PSA Group), who has a reputation for axing vehicles or ventures that didn’t make money.
Many reports have touched on the matter, but one in particular by Mopar Insiders seem to land some credence to the speculation. According to the report, a Stellantis spokeswoman said: “All of the core elements of the SRT performance engineering team have been integrated into our company’s global engineering organisation.”
“This action will have the two-way benefit of ensuring that our brands’ SRT and performance-focused product offerings continue to meet the highest quality standards and expectation while delivering key learnings from motorsports and other high-performance-technology applications across a wider mix of our company’s product lines,” she added.
“These products have delighted enthusiasts for nearly two decades, and Stellantis will continue to sell and develop the next generation Dodge and SRT-branded vehicles, as well as Jeep and Ram vehicles that utilise high-performance SRT technology.”
Besides that, it is not yet known what specific roles these engineers will play in Stellantis, or what other car brands will be benefactors of their expertise. But just to recap, Stellantis currently has 14 automotive brands under its umbrella.
On the FCA side, there is Fiat, Chrysler, Maserati, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Alfa Romeo, Abarth and Lancia. On the PSA front there is Peugeot, Citroen, Opel, DS and Vauxhall. With Tavares steering the ship, underperforming brands like Chrysler could be destined for the chopping block. Further restructuring moves will be disclosed over time.
This is how gweilo takeovers will result in. Compared with Geely, FCA should have sold to them. Geely knows not to disband the racing divisions (R3, Polestar) and they knew how to repurpose each racing division to be focused on their own niches. This stellantis totally destroyed the legacy of SRT and others are just waiting for their deathbells. This is not how one should treat their brand names and images.
disbanding divisions that pulls the heart and soul of true brand enthusiasts will only backfire badly with sales.
Just look at how badly Mitsubishi is doing now after abandoning the hallowed Ralliart division.
PT still pretend or avoid showing the Lemon car case news as article here
I thought you guys always defend car buyers’ right as public awareness, no ?
i totally agree with Carlos Tavares. if the task is to create cars that sells more and if its not working, whats the point? the department has failed and who is paying the staff salaries?
i do think like Jack Ma. like CEO Dr Li. and of course, like Donald Trump. u not good…. ur fired.
You admire Donald Trump? My god!
They should do Lancia marque some justice by re-introducing the evocative models such as the Delta & Fulvia infused with some DNA of the original cars. Motoring fans will be very delighted.