Stellantis “dropping new engines”—does that include the Mopar turbo six?
Future Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares reportedly told the Reuters Automotive Summit that “we are not investing more” into gasoline or diesel engines, due to the need for rapid cost reductions.
Reporting on the event by Detroit News did not elaborate (nor did Tavares, most likely) on whether his statements were on behalf of PSA (Peugeot), his current company, or Stellantis (FCA+PSA), his future company. Nor did he get into detail on the timing of “We are not investing more” and whether that included engine programs which were already far long—such as the long-rumored, never-announced GME turbo six over at what used to be Chrysler and AMC.
That engine was close enough to production to have two lines, one high-speed and one low-speed line, at two different plants earmarked for it (one of the plants, in case you wondered, was Saltillo, which currently makes all Hemis and some Pentastar sixes. The pragmatic reason for choosing Saltillo is not having to ship the engines very far to get them into Ram pickups and/or ProMaster vans made in the adjoining assembly plant.)
The straight-six, 3-liter turbo based on the 2.0 liter GME T4 fell off the rumor-mill grid around three months ago. It had been seen as the replacement for the current 5.7 Hemi, though the latter has gotten a new lease on life. The turbo six would have more power than the V8, with better fuel economy.
Its future is now further in doubt, as the 2.0 four-cylinder could be paired with electric motors to supplement the 5.7 Hemi and eventually the 6.4 Hemi as well.
Clark Westfield grew up fixing up and driving past-their-prime American cars, including various GM and Mopar V8s. He has ghostwritten auto news for the last few years, lives in Farmingdale, New York, and can be reached at +1.516-531-4021.