Though it’s not completely gone.
Things are moving fast at the newly created Stellantis. Now the world’s fourth-largest automaker, Stellantis has a total of 14 brands, plus Mopar. Well, possibly make that 13. It appears the Street & Racing Technology division (SRT) is being dropped, though it won’t be completely gone. Mopar Insiders reports SRT is in the process of being disbanded and because it didn’t have any unique models or separate dealerships, it shouldn’t take long to do so. There had been some rumors over the past few weeks regarding SRT’s future, and a Stellantis spokesperson has all but admitted the division is undergoing changes.
“All of the core elements of the SRT performance engineering team have been integrated into our company’s global engineering organization,” they said. Fortunately, this is not a complete dissolution of the performance group.
“This action will have the two-way benefit of ensuring that our brands’ SRT and performance-focused product offerings continue to meet the highest quality standards and expectations while delivering key learnings from motorsports and other high-performance-technology applications across a wider mix of our company’s product lines,” the spokesperson added.
Development of SRT-branded models will continue but the SRT team itself will now work within other brands, such as Dodge, Jeep, and Ram. This approach makes sense both financially and product-wise. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares has a reputation for cost-cutting but also understands the high-performance nature of brands like Dodge.
That said, SRT’s engineering expertise is still very much needed for the development of the next-generation Dodge Challenger and Charger. Jeep and will also continue to have high-performance models. The Ram 1500 TRX is just the latest example. However, SRT engineers have their work cut out for them. Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis recently confirmed the days of the V8 engine are numbered, specifically the Hellcat. Electrification, whether purely from batteries or a plug-in hybrid setup, is coming soon.
But what Kuniskis also made clear is that performance isn’t going anywhere. If Ford and Ford Performance are already in the early development stages of an all-electric Mustang, then SRT engineers have no choice but to do the same for the future Challenger.
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