After years of lagging the industry in electrification, Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram are getting ready to leap into the future with their first fully battery-powered models.
That transition to EVs needs to be handled with care by the brands’ new parent, Stellantis, said Eric Nielsen, owner of Nielsen Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram in East Hanover, N.J.
“We’re all going to end up in electrification,” Nielsen told Automotive News. “[We’ve] got to get there and it’s going to be a slow path, and you can’t rush to it and screw it up. You’ve got to take it as it comes and produce a quality electric car.”
Jeep’s first battery-electric model arrives next year. Stellantis showed the first image of the compact Jeep EV this month.
Jeep also plans to launch EV options in what it calls the “pure off-road” and “lifestyle family” categories in 2024, en route to offering zero-emission variants in every utility vehicle segment by 2025.
Nielsen said there’s excitement from consumers and dealers around the electric Ram 1500 pickup due in 2024. But he said retailers can’t get too far ahead of themselves.
“We still have to live for today and deliver gas engines and continue to do business,” Nielsen said.
U.S. sales chief Jeff Kommor and his team did a good job during Friday’s make meeting showing dealers where Stellantis is going, Nielsen said.
Stellantis’ U.S. sales fell 18 percent in the fourth quarter as the automaker dealt with the global microchip shortage and the ongoing pandemic, leading to a 2 percent sales decline for all of 2021.
“They made it very clear they want their dealers,” Nielsen said. “They’re not looking to distribute the cars without the dealers. We’ve had a 100-year relationship, and we want it to be another 100 years.”
