Stellantis’ Dodge and Ram brands CEO Tim Kuniskis is retiring after a nearly 32-year career with the automaker and its predecessors, the company announced Friday. Kuniskis, who has led several of the carmaker’s brands in North America, is best known for leading Dodge for most of the last decade or so. He is considered the “Godfather” of Dodge’s high-performance Hellcat models and “the unofficial spokesman” for American muscle cars.
Despite his recent initiatives nudging the brands towards electrification and introducing the new six-cylinder Charger, Kuniskis’s legacy will be forever linked to the Hemi V-8. His first tenure as the CEO of Dodge began in 2011, five years after the Charger’s revival. Kuniskis immediately steered the brand towards its performance and muscle-car roots, drawing inspiration from its storied past with numerous naming and styling themes.
He soon surpassed those efforts with the 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat, a 707-horsepower beast that set the stage for even more absurd levels of power. This also led to the creation of the 702-hp Ram 1500 TRX and the Hellcat-powered Durango.
While other automakers moved towards hybridization and electrification, Dodge and Ram held fast until Stellantis intervened, prompting the introduction of the electric Charger Daytona, the electric Ram 1500 REV, and the plug-in-hybrid Ramcharger.
With last year’s debut of the 1025-hp Challenger Demon 170, Kuniskis made one more significant impact before retiring, likely to enjoy a future filled with rumbling V-8s and smoky burnouts. At the time, we didn’t realize the outrageous street-legal dragster was a final hurrah for both the Challenger and Kuniskis. Chrysler CEO Christine Feuell will take on additional responsibilities as Ram’s CEO. Meanwhile, Dodge sales executive Matt McAlear will ascend to the role of Dodge’s CEO.
Kuniskis’ departure is the latest in a string of changes to the company since the automaker was established. Recent changes have included a shuffle of Jeep’s top executives, North America head Mark Stewart leaving to become CEO of Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co., and a shakeup late last year of the company’s international operations like the South America and Asia-Pacific regions, including China.