Stellantis brings back Tim Kuniskis to run Ram brand after ouster of CEO Carlos Tavares

DETROIT — Troubled automaker Stellantis has decided that its Ram brand needs its own executive, so the business is bringing back an executive who retired this year when CEO Carlos Tavares was running the business.

Tim Kuniskis, who served as the unofficial spokesman for the American muscle car, is taking over as CEO of Ram effective immediately, business spokeswoman Shawn Morgan said Monday.

The profitability of Kuniskis is part of several management moves by the struggling business designed to bolster its North American leadership.

Sales of Ram pickups, the business’s top selling and most profitable product, have fallen almost 18% this year as Stellantis was caught with too many higher-priced vehicles when buyers were looking for more affordable automobiles.

The Ram brand also includes other commercial vans and trucks.

Kuniskis retired in May after nearly 32 years with Stellantis, the fourth-largest automaker in the globe that was formed in the 2021 union between Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Peugeot. He had been running both Ram and the Dodge muscle car brand, and was leading Dodge’s shift to electric muscle cars.

Tavares stepped down Dec. 1 after the business posted impoverished monetary results and sales were faltering. The business’s board said it had a different view from Tavares for the business’s upcoming.