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Stellantis receives proposal to keep Chrysler Dodge Brands alive for Americans

Credit: Stellantis

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Stellantis receives proposal to keep Chrysler Dodge Brands alive for Americans

Stellantis received a proposal to keep Chrysler’s most iconic brands alive for Americans. Frank B. Rhodes Jr., the great-grandson of Walter P. Chrysler who is the founder of the Chrysler Corporation, is fighting to keep his grandfather’s brand and other popular Chrysler brands alive in the United States. 

On behalf of the newly formed Chrysler/Dodge, LLC, Rhodes proposed to “keep [Chrysler/Dodge Plymouth/Mopar brands] in the USA with stockholder and employee control.” The proposal was addressed to Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares and Chrysler Brand CEO Christine Feuell. 

In the proposal, Rhodes enumerates a few missteps Stellantis has taken, which have slowly diminished Chrysler brands in the United States. 

“My family were important stockholders in the company since its founding and prior to its bankruptcy. I own a token position since the Stellantis takeover to just be able to keep up with events at the company to keep up with the planned Chrysler brand, and watched its stock see saw. I am not interested in a meaningful stockholder position in the Stellantis brands other than Chrysler/Dodge and Plymouth. 

“I watched helplessly as the Jeep and Ram brands received support while the Chrysler Museum was shut down and replaced with the Alfa Romeo engineering center in Michigan. Why here to be replaced with an Italian car brand that has no traction in the USA? That move seemed to me to be deliberate to try and erase the Chrysler name,” stated Rhodes in the proposal.

The proposal also emphasized some moves by Chrysler CEO Feuell that resulted in the death of many iconic names and muscle cars under Stellantis supervision. 

“Under herleadership,some of the most iconic names and muscle cars such as the Chrysler 300, the iconic Charger IN MANY MOVIES, including FAST & FURIOUS, and the Challenger/ Hellcat were also quietly discontinued. 

“All that is left for Chrysler and Dodge dealers to offer, are The Chrysler Pacifica and its brother the plug-in hybrid, (considered as soccer-moms’ cars) and the Durango and Hornet. The Dodge Viper was one of the coolest looking muscle cars, expected of that brand, and one of my friends claimed an early version,the proposal states.

The proposal also includes thoughts on Stellantis and how it handled employees in the United States, specifically with the United Auto Workers union. The company has laid off many workers in the United States in recent months. 

Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares visited Detroit over his summer break to develop a strategy to improve its North American operations, especially in the United States. However, the proposal presented by Rhodes hints that it might be too late. 

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Read the full proposal below.

Stellantis Faces Call to Save Chrysler & Dodge by Maria Merano on Scribd

If you have any tips, contact me at maria@teslarati.com or via X @Writer_01001101.

Maria--aka "M"-- is an experienced writer and book editor. She's written about several topics including health, tech, and politics. As a book editor, she's worked with authors who write Sci-Fi, Romance, and Dark Fantasy. M loves hearing from TESLARATI readers. If you have any tips or article ideas, contact her at maria@teslarati.com or via X, @Writer_01001101.

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Tesla to increase Full Self-Driving subscription price: here’s when

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Credit: Tesla

Tesla will increase its Full Self-Driving subscription price, meaning it will eventually be more than the current $99 per month price tag it has right now.

Already stating that the ability to purchase the suite outright will be removed, Tesla CEO Elon Musk said earlier this week that the Full Self-Driving subscription price would increase when its capabilities improve:

“I should also mention that the $99/month for supervised FSD will rise as FSD’s capabilities improve. The massive value jump is when you can be on your phone or sleeping for the entire ride (unsupervised FSD).”

This was an expected change, especially as Tesla has been hinting for some time that it is approaching a feature-complete version of Full Self-Driving that will no longer require driver supervision. However, with the increase, some are concerned that they may be priced out.

$99 per month is already a tough ask for some. While Full Self-Driving is definitely worth it just due to the capabilities, not every driver is ready to add potentially 50 percent to their car payment each month to have it.

While Tesla has not revealed any target price for FSD, it does seem that it will go up to at least $150.

Additionally, the ability to purchase the suite outright is also being eliminated on February 14, which gives owners another reason to be slightly concerned about whether they will be able to afford to continue paying for Full Self-Driving in any capacity.

Some owners have requested a tiered program, which would allow people to pay for the capabilities they want at a discounted price.

Unsupervised FSD would be the most expensive, and although the company started removing Autopilot from some vehicles, it seems a Supervised FSD suite would still attract people to pay between $49 and $99 per month, as it is very useful.

Tesla will likely release pricing for the Unsupervised suite when it is available, but price increases could still come to the Supervised version as things improve.

This is not the first time Musk has hinted that the price would change with capability improvements, either. He’s been saying it for some time. In 2020, he even said the value of FSD would “probably be somewhere in excess of $100,000.”

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Tesla starts removing outright Full Self-Driving purchase option at time of order

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(Credit: Tesla)

Tesla has chosen to axe the ability to purchase Full Self-Driving outright from a select group of cars just days after CEO Elon Musk announced the company had plans to eliminate that option in February.

The company is making a clear-cut stand that it will fully transition away from the ability to purchase the Full Self-Driving suite outright, a move that has brought differing opinions throughout the Tesla community.

Earlier this week, the company also announced that it will no longer allow buyers to purchase Full Self-Driving outright when ordering a pre-owned vehicle from inventory. Instead, that will be available for $99 per month, the same price that it costs for everyone else.

The ability to buy the suite for $8,000 for a one-time fee at the time of order has been removed:

This is a major move because it is the first time Tesla is eliminating the ability to purchase FSD outright for one flat fee to any of its vehicles, at least at the time of purchase.

It is trying to phase out the outright purchase option as much as it can, preparing people for the subscription-based service it will exclusively offer starting on February 14.

In less than a month, it won’t be available on any vehicle, which has truly driven some serious conversation from Tesla owners throughout the community.

There’s a conflict, because many believe that they will now lose the ability to buy FSD and not pay for it monthly, which is an attractive offer. However, others believe, despite paying $8,000 for FSD, that they will have to pay more money on top of that cost to get the unsupervised suite.

Additionally, CEO Elon Musk said that the FSD suite’s subscription price would increase over time as capabilities increase, which is understandable, but is also quite a conflict for those who spent thousands to have what was once promised to them, and now they may have to pay even more money.

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Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature not available on typical Model Ys

These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.

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Credit: David Moss | X

Tesla Robotaxi has a highly-requested hardware feature that is not available on typical Model Ys that people like you and me bring home after we buy them. The feature is something that many have been wanting for years, especially after the company adopted a vision-only approach to self-driving.

After Tesla launched driverless Robotaxi rides to the public earlier this week in Austin, people have been traveling to the Lone Star State in an effort to hopefully snag a ride from one of the few vehicles in the fleet that are now no longer required to have Safety Monitors present.

BREAKING: Tesla launches public Robotaxi rides in Austin with no Safety Monitor

Although only a few of those completely driverless rides are available, there have been some new things seen on these cars that are additions from regular Model Ys, including the presence of one new feature: camera washers.

With the Model Y, there has been a front camera washer, but the other exterior “eyes” have been void of any solution for this. For now, owners are required to clean them manually.

In Austin, Tesla is doing things differently. It is now utilizing camera washers on the side repeater and rear bumper cameras, which will keep the cameras clean and keep operation as smooth and as uninterrupted as possible:

These camera washers are crucial for keeping the operation going, as they are the sole way Teslas operate autonomously. The cameras act as eyes for the car to drive, recognize speed limit and traffic signs, and travel safely.

This is the first time we are seeing them, so it seems as if Safety Monitors might have been responsible for keeping the lenses clean and unobstructed previously.

However, as Tesla transitions to a fully autonomous self-driving suite and Robotaxi expands to more vehicles in the Robotaxi fleet, it needed to find a way to clean the cameras without any manual intervention, at least for a short period, until they can return for interior and exterior washing.

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