Former Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis now in charge of Ram trucks

Car enthusiast and former CEO Tim Kuniskis has returned to Stellantis after a retirement hiatus of seven months. The move comes amid conglomerate turmoil that is affecting the company's operations across the globe. He’s back in charge of Ram, a familiar position where he previously pulled double-duty to manage Dodge at the same time. This time though, it looks to be all pickups.

Optimal timing, optimal man for the job

Kuniskis’s return comes at a time when the success of Stellantis is on a slippery slope. Sales are down across virtually all brands, shining a bad light on the corporation. The situation is so dire, that Stellantis management is getting a massive shuffle, including an ousted CEO whose role remains vacant at the time of this writing. If one man can pull everything back from the brink, he can.

“Today’s changes will enable us to operate in a structure that will drive the best outcomes for the region, unlock significant potential, and win in the market. A main lever is for the Ram brand to have its CEO singularly focused on that brand,” Stellantis said in an email statement noting his return.

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Kuniskis has 32 years of experience to reflect on upon his return. A weathered leader who’s witnessed the company go through good and bad times, he finds himself once again in the driver’s seat, this time with greater challenges of steering the brand back in the right direction.

Sales down, ambitions high

Ram truck sales are down by double-digit percentages this year. What’s usually a straightforward path to high sales and profit margins is now affected by meddling management that has struggled to improve the bottom line. Kuniskis faces a tall order when it comes to claiming market share against General Motors and Ford.

At the same time, Stellantis is trying to hard launch its next-generation frame platform to accommodate future electric and gas utility vehicles. If Kuniskis can pull off the daunting task of righting the ship for Ram, he might find himself in the circumstance of becoming the global CEO of Stellantis.

In his time as the head of Dodge, he spearheaded the launch of the Hellcat models and previewed its first-ever all-electric muscle car, the Charger Daytona. Demand is allegedly high for the gas-powered Charger Sixpack that Dodge is moving up production to get it in people’s hands. Care to guess who planted the seed?

Final thoughts

Future models in the Stellantis portfolio are scarce, with two of them coming from Ram. The Ram 1500 REV and 1500 Ramcharger vehicles mark a crucial turning point for the brand, whose success may foretell the future of trucks as a whole.

It's not just lux trucks on the line, such as the Rivian R1T and GMC Sierra EV, but the commercial industry that relies on trucks to get from point A to B and carry heavy gear on a daily basis. It's important to streamline new technologies for commercial use, an industry that was valued at half a trillion dollars in 2022. 

Just seven months of retirement gave Kuniskis big shoes to fill and for a lot of people inside the Stellantis corporate circle, he may be their only hope.

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