As many of you know, Stellantis has had a rough few years in the product planning department. Basically, it fell into the same trap as almost every other manufacturer by leaning too hard in the direction of electric vehicles, only to discover that Americans simply weren’t ready to give up on gas. This meant that Stellantis had to change direction, which doesn’t happen quickly in the automotive industry. Products are planned at least seven years in advance, and if an EV like the Dodge Charger Daytona falls flat, it’s a massive issue.
Thankfully, the Dutch conglomerate has a totally new plan for 2030 (Fastlane 2030), which includes a 100% refreshed showroom, and 50% new models. And because the USA is a massive market for Stellantis, most of the change is happening here. Stellantis shared a lot of news during its Investor Day, so we thought it would be a good idea to share everything it has planned for the USA in one place.
For the purposes of the feature, we’re only going to focus on the volume brands in the USA, starting with Chrysler.
Chrysler — Finally, More Than A Minivan Brand
The 2027 Pacifica is getting an an updated exterior design, if only to keep it fresh compared to its main rivals. It’s right on time for the great minivan resurgence, but it’s not yet clear what’s going on behind that new face. You can tell from the images that it’s the same car from the A-pillar backwards, so we suspect it will be powered by the trusted 3.6-liter Pentastar V6.
To be fair, Chrysler didn’t have to do too much to the Pacifica, even though it’s a decade old. Its rivals are getting close to overtaking it as the best-selling minivan in the USA, but this revamp should be just enough to keep it relevant in the coming years.
The main thing Chrysler needs to do is move away from its “minivan only” image. That’s why two names are coming back from the dead to convince people that Chrysler still knows how to build crossovers and SUVs. The most important of these are the Arrow and Arrow Cross. These appear to be aimed at budget buyers, with an estimated starting price of $25,000. The Arrow appears to be a crossover coupe, which has been a popular design since BMW brought it to life with the BMW X6, while the Arrow Cross seems to be a more straightforward SUV.
That estimated starting price is important, because it tells us that Chrysler will likely become a budget volume brand. The Arrow undercuts the Jeep Compass and Dodge Hornet by a huge margin, with both those cars retailing for just under $30,000.
The Airflow is an all-new midsize SUV, and it will compete in the toughest segment this side of pickup trucks. Chrysler is aiming for a starting price below $35,000, which means it arguably has the toughest job out of all the cars you’ll read about here. It will face-off with the Mazda CX-5, Honda CR-V, and Toyota RAV4. These three are well-established, and it will take something truly special to lure people out of their comfort zone.
Luckily, the Airflow will be built on the STLA One modular architecture, which means Chrysler will be able to offer multiple powertrain options, ranging from good old-fashioned gas to electrified options.
Jeep — Keeping It Traditional, But With More Power
Jeep will carry on with a little bit of old, a little bit of new, and an all-new model. The cars you know and love are all present and accounted for. There’s the Wrangler (two- and four-door), Gladiator, Compass, the all-new Cherokee, the all-electric Recon (which is a bit of a miss), the Grand Cherokee in standard and elongated form, and the Grand Wagoneer at the top of the pile. The Wrangler-based models will receive facelifts to keep them looking sharp, too.
The big news here is the return of SRT models to the Jeep range. We haven’t seen a brand-new Jeep SRT for five years, and only the Grand Cherokee ever received the treatment. This time, three models will receive the treatment.
Let’s start with the cars we do know. The Grand Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer will both get the go-faster treatment. It’s not clear whether these cars will be powered by a more potent version of the Hurricane inline-six (600 horses should do it) or if one or more V8s will return. Since the main theme seems to be “V8 all the things,” we’re willing to bet that Jeep will offer both the naturally aspirated 6.4-liter V8, and the updated 6.2-liter supercharged Hellcat Hemi V8 that now produces 777 hp and 680 lb-ft. The Grand Wagoneer will need the latter engine if it wants to take the fight to the Cadillac Escalade-V.
The big news is the all-new Scrambler, which will also get the SRT treatment. Traditionally speaking, the Scrambler is a two-door pickup truck, but we’d bet the version Jeep is working on is meant to be a hilarious halo model. Jeep built a Scrambler 392 Concept three years ago, powered by the NA 6.4 V8. Putting the supercharged V8 under the hood of a car with such a short wheelbase would likely result in instantaneous death, but stranger things have happened…
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This article originally appeared on CarBuzz and is republished here with permission.
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