It was only months ago that Tim Kuniskis retired from Stellantis after he helped generate massive amounts of success and profits for both Dodge and Ram. At the time, Kuniski’s exit was partially attributed to Stellantis’s cost-cutting measures as the company shuffled members of its top brass in an attempt to right a sales ship that has been rapidly sinking with sales sliding across all of the company’s portfolio of brands.
Now the talented exec has returned to lead Ram brand once again, but are his talents enough to help Ram emerge from the brink of a sales collapse to once again be a threat to rivals like Ford and General Motors?
Kuniskis has a tall mountain to climb
While Kuniskis won’t have to divide his attention between Ram and Dodge like he did during his last tenure with the company, he will still face a formidable challenge at Ram. The truck brand is supposed to be a key cash cow for Stellantis but sliding sales have revealed that this is far from reality with sales for the trucks in an ongoing skid due to the company mismanaging inventory levels and focusing on pricier trim levels.
Kuniskis will also have to deal with the brand still not offering an electrified pickup. While the Ram 1500 REV and its extended-range counterpart are eventually coming, their delayed introduction means that Ram will have to once again watch from the sidelines though that can be a good thing in the end since EV sales are beginning to slump and Stellantis is focusing their attention on the Charger Daytona and the Jeep Grand Wagoneer S.
Could he be the next CEO?
With embattled former CEO Carlos Tavares now out of the company, the question of who will run Stellantis is up in the air. However, Tim Kuniskis (assuming he doesn’t want the job to begin with) could be an early frontrunner for the job. Kuniskis has over 32 years of managerial experience at the company and has been all over the place in the brand portfolio including layovers at Alfa Romeo and Chrysler.
With this impressive portfolio of experience, he could be an early front runner in the pool of names that the company is looking through to replace Tavares but it remains to be seen if Stellantis doesn;t have any rabbits that it might be looking to pull out of its hat in regards to potential replacements.
Carl Malek has been an automotive journalist for over 10 years. First starting out as a freelance photographer before making the transition to writing during college, his work has appeared on numerous automotive forums as well as websites such as Autoshopper.com.
Carl is also a big fan of British vehicles with the bulk of his devotion going to the Morgan Motor Company as well as offerings from Lotus, MG, and Caterham. When he is not writing about automobiles, Carl enjoys spending time with his family and friends in the Metro Detroit area, as well as spending time with his adorable pets.