False Patriotism and the Employment Myth
Part 3 of Changing the American Metaphor
“They see the Stars, but do not see the Light”
The Stars (Stellantis)
“Make America Great Again” or MAGA continues to be associated with vigorous American employment. It is a Great American Myth. The metaphors for this delusion?are the Jeep Cherokee:
and the Dodge Ram;
two very macho, muscular “American” marques.?
Disabusing the Delusions
“History is the only education. All the rest is just training” ~ Brent Steeples
The Jeep Cherokee and Dodge Ram?
Wikipedia: Jeep?is an American automobile marque, now owned by multi-national corporation?Stellantis.[3][4] Jeep has been part of?Chrysler?since 1987, when Chrysler acquired the Jeep brand, along with remaining assets, from its previous owner?American Motors Corporation?(AMC).
Jeep
Industry: Automotive
Founded: 1943 (trademark application)[1]
Area served: Worldwide (except?Cuba,?Syria,?Iran,?North Korea, and?Sudan)
Key people: Christian Meunier (President?of the Jeep brand, worldwide)[2]
Products:
Owner: Stellantis
Website: www.jeep.com
Jeep's current product range consists solely of?sport utility vehicles?– both?crossovers?and fully?off-road worthy?SUVs and models, including one?pickup truck. Previously, Jeep's range included other pick-ups, as well as small vans, and a few?roadsters. Some of Jeep's vehicles—such as the?Grand Cherokee—reach into the luxury SUV segment, a?market segment?the 1963?Wagoneer?is considered to have started.[5] Jeep sold 1.4 million SUVs globally in 2016, up from 500,000 in 2008,[6][7] two-thirds of which in North America,[8] and was Fiat-Chrysler's best selling brand in the U.S. during the first half of 2017.[9] In the U.S. alone, over 2400 dealerships hold franchise rights to sell Jeep-branded vehicles, and if Jeep were spun off into a separate company, it is estimated to be worth between $22 and $33.5 billion—slightly?more?than all of FCA (US).[8][7]
Prior to 1940 the term "jeep" had been used as U.S. Army slang for new recruits or vehicles,[10][11] but the?World War II "jeep"that went into production in 1941 specifically tied the name to this light military 4x4, arguably making them the oldest four-wheel drive mass-production vehicles now known as?SUVs.[12] The Jeep became the primary light 4-wheel-drive vehicle of the?United States Armed Forces?and the?Allies?during?World War II, as well as the postwar period. The term became common worldwide in the wake of the war. Doug Stewart noted:[13] "The spartan, cramped, and unstintingly functional jeep became the ubiquitous World War II four-wheeled personification of?Yankee ingenuityand cocky, can-do determination." It is the precursor of subsequent generations of?military light utility vehicles?such as the?Humvee, and inspired the creation of civilian analogs such as the original?Series I Land Rover.[14][15] Many Jeep variants serving similar military and civilian roles have since been designed in other nations.
The Jeep marque has been headquartered in?Toledo, Ohio, ever since?Willys–Overland?launched production of the first?CJ or Civilian Jeep?branded models there in 1945.[16] Its replacement, the conceptually consistent?Jeep Wrangler?series, remains in production since 1986. With its solid axles and open top, the Wrangler has been called the Jeep model that is as central to the brand's identity as the?911?is to?Porsche.[17]
At least two Jeep models (the?CJ-5?and the?SJ Wagoneer) enjoyed extraordinary three-decade production runs of a single body generation.
In lowercase, the term "jeep" continues to be used as a?generic term?for vehicles inspired by the Jeep that are suitable for use on rough terrain.[18] In Iceland the word?Jeppi?(derived from Jeep) has been used since WWII and is still used for any type of SUV
Wikipedia: Dodge
Dodge?is an American?brand?of?automobiles?and a division of?Stellantis, based in?Auburn Hills,?Michigan. Dodge vehicles have historically included?performance cars, and for much of its existence Dodge was?Chrysler's mid-priced brand above?Plymouth.
Type: Private?(1900–28)?
Division?(1928–present)
Industry: Automotive
Founded: 1900; 122?years ago (as Dodge Brothers Company)
Founders:
Fate: acquired as a division of?Chrysler Corporation?in 1928
Headquarters: Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S.
Area served: Worldwide (except South Asia, Nigeria, and Japan)
Key people: Timothy Kuniskis, president and CEO of Dodge brand[1]
ProductsCars, SUVs, vans/minivans
Website: dodge.com
Founded as the?Dodge Brothers Company?machine shop by brothers?Horace Elgin Dodge?and?John Francis Dodge?in the early 1900s,[2] Dodge was originally a supplier of parts and assemblies to?Detroit-based automakers like?Ford. They began building complete automobiles under the "Dodge Brothers" brand in 1914, predating the founding of Chrysler Corporation. The factory located in?Hamtramck, Michigan?was the?Dodge main factory?from 1910 until it closed in January 1980. John Dodge died from the?Spanish flu?in January 1920, having lungs weakened by?tuberculosis?20 years earlier.[3] Horace died in December of the same year, perhaps weakened by the Spanish flu, though the cause of death was?cirrhosis?of the liver. Their company was sold by their families to?Dillon, Read & Co.?in 1925 before being sold to Chrysler in 1928.
Dodge mainstay vehicles were?trucks?and?full-sized?passenger cars through the 1970s, though it also built compact cars such as the 1963–76?Dart?and midsize cars such as the "B-Body"?Coronet?and?Charger?from 1965–78.
The?1973 oil embargo?caused American "gas guzzler" sales to slump, prompting Chrysler to develop the?Dodge Aries?K platformcompact and midsize cars for the 1981 model year. The K?platform?and its derivatives are credited with reviving Chrysler's business in the 1980s. One example was the?Dodge Caravan. During the 1990s the?Dodge Stratus?found many buyers along with the larger?Dodge Intrepid.
The Dodge brand endured multiple ownership changes at Chrysler from 1998 to 2009, including its merger with?Daimler-Benz AG?from 1998 to 2007,[4] its subsequent sale to?Cerberus Capital Management, its 2009?bailout by the United States government, and its subsequent?Chapter 11 bankruptcy?and acquisition by?Fiat.
In 2011, Dodge and its sub-brands,?Dodge Ram?and?Dodge Viper, were separated. Dodge announced that the?Viper?was to be an?SRT?product, and?Ram?a standalone marque. In 2014,?SRT?was merged back into Dodge. Later that year, the?Chrysler Group?was renamed?FCA US LLC, coinciding with the merger of?Fiat S.p.A.and the Chrysler Group into the corporate structure of?Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Subsequently, another merger occurred on January 16, 2021 between FCA and the?PSA Group?(Stellantis), making the Dutch-domiciled automaker the second largest in?Europe, after?Volkswagen.
Briggs Dodge Ram Fiat of Topeka, KS: PSA Group (Stellantis):?
What is Stellantis and what cars does it make?
Ever since word on the?all-electric Ram pickup truck?and?electric Dodge muscle car?began doing the rounds, one name that we’ve all been hearing a lot about is Stellantis. It may sound like a name of a planet or a superhero group straight out of a superhero movie but it’s got nothing to do with DC or Marvel universe. It is an automobile supergroup formed by combining fourteen multi-national car brands. If you’re curious about what Stellantis is and what cars it makes, keep reading this blog post from Briggs Dodge Ram Fiat of Topeka, KS.??
What is Stellantis?
Stellantis is a mega auto conglomerate created on Jan 16, 2021. It’s a new company formed by the merger of France’s Groupe PSA and Italian-American auto conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles aka FCA. The merger of the two auto groups combined around 4.8 million vehicles from FCA with 4.1 million vehicles of Groupe PSA, putting Stellantis ahead of General Motors in terms of global market share and making it the fourth-largest automaker in the world.
Stellantis North America: As for the name, well the name “Stellantis” apparently comes from a Latin word called “stello” which means “to brighten with stars.”?Stellantis’ all-star lineup comprises of some of the most renowned car marques from France, Italy and the United States. Dodge, Ram, and Chrysler being the three American marques that come under Stellantis North America.?
Stellantis combines Groupe PSA’s Peugeot, Citroen, DS Automobiles, Opel and Vauxhall with FCA’s Fiat, Chrysler, Dodge, Ram, Jeep, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, and Maserati. The full list of brands under Stellantis group looks something like this, arranged alphabetically:
SRT and Mopar
Apart from these, Stellantis also owns the American high-performance automobile group SRT? – an acronym for Street & Racing Technology.
SRT? is famous for having originally designed and developed the Dodge Viper and bringing the Dodge name to new heights in terms of high-performance engines and horsepower. Dodge still makes SRT? high-performance models like the Dodge Challenger SRT? Hellcat, Dodge Charger SRT? Hellcat, and the Durango SRT?. Stellantis group also includes Vauxhall’s leasing and mobility brand Free2Move along with Fiat’s light commercial vehicles brand Fiat Professional and FCA’s parts and aftersales brand Mopar?.
The Light?
Auto Manufacturing and Employment?
The false “patriotic” myth continues to circulate in political circles that the Jeep Cherokee, Dodge Ram and other Stellantis brands are “American.” The brand is Dutch-based and the most vital concern is whether this brand provides American employment. The fact is that some of the 14 brands owned by Stellantis produce vehicles in America.?
The Political Implications?
Asserting that MAGA provides for vigorous American employment through the manufacture of Jeep Cherokee, Dodge Ram and muscle cars is a myth. It is also mythical that this is part of a platform representing vital American employment.?Only some of Stellantis" cars, trucks and SUV are made in America and employ Americans.
My, How the World has Changed
A Tectonic Shift in Capital
Cleantechnica: “In his 2022 letter, BlackRock’s CEO Larry Fink talks of a tectonic shift of capital. More than US$130 trillion of collective financial capital has been pledged globally to net zero emissions by 2050.”
This isn’t just a moral choice; it is a matter of factoring the risk posed to the global economy by fossil fuels and finding the place to make wealth for your clients.?
The demand for green energy is increasing exponentially. Green hydrogen is finding its place in the ecosystem and the means to achieve that place are being put into action rapidly. Concurrently, finance is flowing to the sector and profits are being made. Government policies, especially after the COP26 pledges, are aiding the transition.
In Sum
Next: South Carolina and the Future of American Employment