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Stellantis ready to kill brands and fix U.S. problems, CEO Tavares says

  MILAN — Stellantis is taking steps to fix weak margins and high inventory at its U.S. operations and will not hesitate to axe underperforming brands in its sprawling portfolio, its chief executive Carlos Tavares said on Thursday. The warning for lossmaking brands is a turnaround for Tavares, who has maintained since Stellantis was created in 2021 from the merger of Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler and France's PSA that all of its 14 brands including Maserati, Fiat, Peugeot and Jeep have a future. "If they don't make money, we'll shut them down," Carlos Tavares told reporters after the world's No. 4 automaker delivered worse-than-expected first-half results, sending its shares down as much as 10%. "We cannot afford to have brands that do not make money." The automaker now also considers China's Leapmotor as its 15th brand, after it agreed to a broad cooperation with the group. Stellantis does not release figures for individual brands, except for Maserati which reported an 82 million euro adjusted operating loss in the first half. Some analysts say Maserati could possibly be a target for a sale by Stellantis, while other brands such as Lancia or DS might be at risk of being scrapped given their marginal contribution to the group's overall sales. Stellantis' Milan-listed shares were down as much as 12.5% on Thursday, hitting their lowest since August 2023. That brings the loss for the year so far to 22%, making them the worst performer among the major European automakers. Few automotive brands have been killed off since General Motors ditched the unprofitable Saturn and Pontiac during a U.S. government-led bankruptcy in the global financial crisis in 2008. Tavares is under pressure to revive flagging margins and sales and cut inventory in the United States as Stellantis bets on the launch of 20 new models this year which it hopes will boost profitability. Recent poor results from global carmakers have heightened worries about a weakening outlook for sales across major markets such as the U.S., whilst they also juggle an expensive transition to electric vehicles and growing competition from cheaper Chinese rivals. Japan's Nissan Motor saw first-quarter profit almost completely wiped out on Thursday and slashed its annual outlook, as deep discounting in the United States shredded its margins. Tavares said he would be working through the summer with his U.S. team on how to improve performance and cut inventory.

Mopar Hellephant crate engine sells out in 48 hours

This happened so quickly that we're only just catching up with it. Mopar opened pre-orders on the 7.0-liter Hellephant Hemi crate engine on April 26, which is Hemi Day. According to Allpar, hubbub on social media not long after that day claimed Mopar had gone through all of its Hellephant stock. When Allpar asked Fiat Chrysler for clarification, a spokesperson e-mailed, "Given the high demand and the hand-built, time-intensive build process, we have closed preordering for the 426 Hellephant Supercharged HEMI crate engine. Based on preorders, the engine sold out in just two days. Customers can visit www.cratehemi.com to receive future information and updates on the 'Hellephant' engine." No one is certain how many engines Mopar sold. Allpar wrote, "Industry insiders believe Mopar may be making around 100," but reiterated that it's a guess. The engine and the ordering process have their peculiarities. Mopar Insiders explained that Tool Engineering International helped create the 426-cubic-inch block, and that the Hellephant engine "shares nothing except for displacement with the rumored upcoming 7.0-liter 426 Hemi V8." On the Hellcat.org forum, a poster wrote that the engines "can only be sold through a dealer and that the dealers can only order 1 engine per week." The Hellephant doesn't come with Mopar's three-year, 100,000-mile warranty, either. During a press briefing last October, FCA officials said they weren't sure about offering any warranty. Based on the motor being given a part number starting with the letter P, there is a bit of protection, but it's a 90-day limited warranty covering "defects in materials or wokmanship," and only applies to engines not used in competition. For those who didn't get the opportunity to drop $29,995 for 1,000 horsepower and 950 pound-feet of torque, the best bet is to hope for the return of Apollyon's pachyderm. Motor1 wrote that "Rumors hint at... another limited run scheduled for next year due to overwhelming demand." That's thin thread to hang a Hellephant from, but it beats bupkis.

Follow along for the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon live reveal

Updates: Live Demon premiere in Times Square and a viewing party on Woodward Ave. here in Detroit. The first Hellcat sold for about $800k at a Barrett-Jackson auction. New Pennzoil video with the last Dodge Viper premiering tomorrow. "Making the suits nervous is how we know we're on the right track." No love for accountants. "A modern day version of the Ramchargers." "The harder car companies work to take the driver out of the equation, the harder we work to keep them in." "We want to impress the NHRA more than the PTA." "It would have been easy to take a Hellcat and make it a bit faster." SRT says tuners have it all wrong. This is the way to build a performance drag car. Every Demon comes with a leather-bound manual that shows how to properly set up the car for tracks. 2.3 seconds to 60 mph 9.65 second 1/4 mile 840 horsepower This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Original Post: The 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon is coming tonight, and we'll be bringing you live coverage and updates from New York. There have been months of teasers, trailers, and hints, but some of the big questions have yet to be answered. Dodge is showing the reveal live on the Demon's promo site, ifyouknowyouknow.com. Watch the stream and follow along here for the latest Demon info. The hype started back in January with the first video, "Cage." At the time, all we knew was that the Demon was going to be a hopped-up version of the already juiced up Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat. After that, we learned that the Demon would be significantly lighter thanks to optional - yes, optional - passenger and rear seats. In addition to the seats, the Demon comes with lightweight wheels wrapped in sticky 315/40R18 Nitto drag radials at all four corners. Dodge showed off the Demon's crate of goodies, but it was a few more weeks before we learned what was inside. The Demon comes with a jack, an electric impact wrench, torque wrench, and a tire pressure gauge. The kit will be used to swap skinny front tires for use on a drag strip. As cool as those 315 section tires look up front, they hurt far more than they help on a drag strip.