Mopar Masters Guild Magazine July - August 2023

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From the Desk of MMG President Joe McBeth

“Join the Mopar Masters Guild”

Hello Mopar Masters Guild members & friends!

I hope you have all had a great summer. The kids are returning to school and it will not be long before the leaves start changing colors calling in the beginning of fall. Here in Texas, that will certainly be a welcome sight. Texas and a lot of the southern U.S. has had one of the ho est summers in over a decade.

Fall will bring the busy travel season for a lot of us with many mee ngs coming up now un l the end of the year. We have vendor visits being planned, the Mopar Business Conference in Orlando and our next 20 Group mee ng in October in Dallas.

I want to invite all our guild members to a end these mee ngs as they play a valuable role in the success of our parts departments and personal growth.

If you are not a current member of the Mopar Masters Guild or our 20 Group and you meet the requirements for membership please consider joining us. I promise you it is the best of the best and we always welcome new members. We succeed by sharing ideas at these mee ngs that we can take back to our dealerships. As our guild mo o states. “The exchange of informa on by like size dealers in a non-compe ve environment”.

Do not forget to mark your calendars for our 32nd Annual Mopar Masters Guild mee ng. Our annual mee ng will be held in Las Vegas January 30 to February 4. Your planning commi ee has been working with Jill Vance at Apogee Event Agency planning another exci ng mee ng and events we think you all will enjoy. There will be more informa on coming on this as soon as we get closer.

I look forward to the day we see each other again and hope you con nue to have a great 2023.

See you all soon!

Joe McBeth - jmcbeth@thedallaspdc.com

President - Mopar Masters Guild - Parts Director - Dallas DCJR

If you are interested in joining the Mopar Masters Guild, please visit their website to see if your dealership qualifies to become a member.

Then click here to fill out our membership form

h ps://moparmastersguild.com/membership/

Mopar Masters 32nd Annual Meeting in Las Vegas

The me has come to begin making your hotel reserva ons for our 32nd Annual MMG Mee ngs, hosted at the Beau ful Palms Las Vegas from January 30th – February 4th. Our Guests will have un l December 29th to complete their reservaons.

Should you want to extend your stay, or arrive early, you will have the ability to via the link.

If anyone has any ques ons at all, or any issues whatsoever, please reach out to Jill Vance, and she will be happy to assist you!

Jill Vance, Apogee Event Agency: Phone - 954-856-6477

Email: Jill@apogeeeventagency.com

*When: We arrive Tuesday January 30th for our Member Recep on

*Where: The Palms - Las Vegas

*Room Reserva ons: MMG Hotel Reserva on Link - Click here

More info will follow - watch for emails

CANDY MOUNTAIN

Submitted by Susan McDaniel

I recently had a break in the ac on to visit with my good friends John and Julie on the legendary, world famous Candy Mountain.

The Candy Mountain Estate is on a 10 acre sprawl just outside of Columbus, Ohio in a historic farming community known as Grove City.

Grove City History

Grove City was once a farming community and a me when neighbors worked together to bring in the fall harvest. The rich soil in the township was wet and many fields had to be drained into the various runs that emp ed into the Scioto River. The first permanent white se lers arrived in 1803 but it wasn’t un l 1852 that a successful businessman from Carroll, Ohio and three others created a plat naming a se lement in Jackson Township, Grove City. That man was William Foster Breck.

Breck’s first business was to purchase and relocate a grist mill that was located about two miles west of Grove City. He moved the power plant and stones to the village. Breck would eventually operate numerous businesses including a brick and le factory and was named Grove City’s first postmaster.

To this day there are s ll many farms in the area growing mostly soy, corn, wheat, and pumpkins and many farmers markets to purchase these and a large variety of fresh produce.

John volunteers with the local Grove City Historical Society and they have a museum in the heart of the township that displays memorabilia from the town’s history. This includes an old T model, a local doctor’s bag and essen als, Indian ar facts, old clothing, high school keepsakes, and the most recent and most notable is a wall dedicated to the town’s fallen soldiers da ng back to World War 1.

Candy Mountain’s vast spread boasts many types of trees (John is a local tree farmer). The most common is the walnut tree. Walnuts can be found all over their property and make for tasty snacks when seasoned and toasted in the oven just right.

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Leaders in the Sale of Quality Mopar Parts

This could quite possibly become a lucra ve business at some point. Many of the smaller trees don’t make the cut unfortunately because the deer have other plans with them. Needless to say, the views are spectacular in any direc on you decide to look.

There are also a variety of birds (Julie is an avid bird watcher and has birdhouses all over so they can see the many types that come by for a visit...or to live) and small gardens everywhere.

There are also all kinds of nature trails to hike on and explore the scenery.

Julie and I have been friends since the mid 1980’s. We met at Chief Auto Parts in Phoenix, Arizona and have remained the best of friends ever since. Julie chose the service path and I remained in parts.

We o en rehash those days when we were just beginning our journeys and all of the colorful characters we knew back then. We learned so much from all of them (good and bad) and both agree how fortunate we are to have experienced all that we have.

I always look forward to visi ng and our enlightening conversa ons that take us through the decades, our travels through the beau ful countryside, touring the historical township, and hikes in the woods.

…Un l we meet again Candy Mountain.

Happy Trails, Susan

The View From My Office

With Kat Monteiro

The view from my office, my kitchen table, today is rain drops in the pool. What?? It does not rain in Escondido in August!

It is a historical day here in Southern California with the first ever Tropical Storm warning from Hurricane Hilary. Hilary decided to come all the way up to the p of California into San Diego and head inland from there. It is s ll early in the day here but we are not ge ng the heavy rain and wind they were expec ng as of last night - yet - here in Escondido and it looks like we are going to miss the worst of it because of the way Hilary has changed her course. But the dessert is ge ng hammered and is having severe flash floods. I am ge ng this info by watching one of my favorite storm chasers that I follow on YouTube that drove all the way out here for this event from Missouri! So it is a bit crazy in the neighborhood.

Re rement and Rick’s work with Jack Powell CDJR is going great! We have been so fortunate to be able to have some great adventures traveling so far this year. In fact we just got home from a spur of the moment trip to Cape Cod. We hijacked the last week of our friend Randy’s camping trip at Scusset Beach in Sandwich, Massachuse s. Which is on the Cape. It was a great State campground by the beach and the canal. It was really cool to sit by the canal and watch the ships and boats go through, and the tugboats pushing the big barges. We had some great food and of course lobster! We bought lobster at the fish market and brought them back to the trailer where Rick cooked them perfectly. No be er way to eat lobster than si ng outside on a picnic table with no worries about spraying lobster juice as I am using a hammer to crack the claws! It was so good! One night we added fresh scallops, and a fresh made tuna, lobster sushi roll - yum!

Rick and Randy spent a day going over to Martha’s Vineyard on the ferry. They took the bicycles so when they got over there they were able to ride around, but they said it was so busy and packed with people - so I don’t feel like I missed much by not going over.

I spent the day just chilling at camp with a good book, and taking walks around the park and to the canal. I really enjoyed hanging out by the canal and watching the boats.

One of my favorite stops was the Ice Cream Sandwich shop, in Sandwich! I thought this was the coolest name and the craziest name for a town I have ever heard! So I just had to stop there.

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Leaders in the Sale of Quality Mopar Parts

Also you have to have lunch at the Dog House! So many hot dogs to choose from and they also have great burgers. If you bring a dog with you they will give your pup a free hot dog!

We spent one morning driving around to all the thri shops in Cape Cod looking for a pot big enough to cook the lobsters. We eventually found one and it cost us $4. It was a great find! So we had a really good me just doing simple things and exploring. If you ever go to Cape Cod I highly recommend the Heritage Museums & Gardens - they have an extensive old car collec on that is really amazing and it is a great place to walk through the gardens where they have some different exhibits and a historical carousel you can ride. I also really enjoyed the Sandwich Glass Museum. It was fascina ng to learn about the history of making glass wear, something I really hadn’t thought about before. I wanted to go here because I love glass and they did not disappoint, they had a very large collec on of all types of glass to walk around and look at. I loved it!

Also if you are in town look up and see if there is anyone playing a concert at the Melody Tent. We went to a concert there and saw Get The Led Out which is a Led Zeppelin tribute band. Led Zeppelin was one of Rick and Randy’s favorite bands from the 70s.

And they said they did a really good job and sounded a lot like how they sounded from the 70s. It was a lot of fun and it was a great venue. Not a bad seat in the house and not overly big. The stage rotated so everyone got a good view at one point or another. And here is a hint - before the show go get something to eat at the New England Pizza House #1, park at the back corner of the parking lot, while inside ask the owner if he minds if you park in the lot while you go to the concert. When he says it is ok leave your car there and walk over to the Melody Tent. It is an easy walk and so much easier to get out a er the concert is over.

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A er we moved out of the camp ground we stayed at Randy’s daughters house in North A leborough.

We spent the one full day we had there to travel into Rhode Island to the town of Newport. Wow what a town full of the most beau ful homes and mansions! You can walk along the ocean cliffs on a walkway and you can see a lot of old historic mansions. We took a tour of one of these historical mansions built by one of the Vanderbilt family members called The Breakers. It was amazing and so beau ful. It is fascina ng to imagine how the people lived in that big house. The Vanderbilt family built the Biltmore in Asheville, North Carolina and I guess other family members built some of the other mansions there in Newport. We toured the Biltmore with Marvin & Laura Windham on our road trip to the Myrtle Beach mee ng and there were some aspects that were very similar between the two estates. Anyway it was really cool to see and I believe that if you went to see it you would not be disappointed.

So that was our East Coast adventure. We are going to plan a trip back to that area, maybe Maine, next October, hoping to see the Fall colors. If anyone has any good sugges ons on places to go, or if there is a be er me of the year to go please let me know.

I hope everyone enjoyed the summer with the kids, family, travel, or whatever other adventures that were had. Hard to believe that Fall is right around the corner.

Till next me, Kat

Biden urges ‘all sides’ to make a deal as UAW, Detroit 3 seek contract

President Joe Biden called for ‘all sides to work together to forge a fair agreement’ as the UAW con nued talks with the Detroit 3 automakers.

President Joe Biden on Monday called for “all sides to work together to forge a fair agreement” as the UAW con nued contract talks with the Detroit 3 automakers. “I’m asking all sides to work together to forge a fair agreement,” Biden said in a statement as talks con nue between the UAW and Ford Motor Co., General Motors and Chrysler parent company Stellan s. “The UAW helped create the American middle class and as we move forward in this transi on to new technologies, the UAW deserves a contract that sustains the middle class,” Biden said in the statement released by the White House.

The union represents 150,000 U.S. hourly workers at the three automakers and has not ruled out striking at all of them if new contracts are not reached by a Sept. 14 deadline. UAW President Shawn Fain briefed Biden last month on the nego a ons and met with U.S. lawmakers as the union pushes for higher wages and benefits. He has also cri cized some of the Biden administra on’s EV policies, and the union so far has not endorsed Biden’s re-elec on bid.

Biden, a Democrat, campaigned on union support and has weighed in on labor talks in the railroad industry and other sectors. Addressing climate change is also a key part of his agenda. “I support a fair transi on to a clean-energy future,” he said on Monday.

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The UAW is seeking to include workers at joint venture vehicle ba ery plants in its contracts.

Stellan s, in a statement, said it “remains commi ed to working construc vely and collabora vely with the UAW to nego ate a new agreement that balances the concerns of our 43,000 employees with our vision for the future.”

Fain, in a prepared statement issued by the UAW, said Biden’s remarks were appreciated. “We agree with the president that the (Detroit 3)’s joint venture ba ery plants should have the same strong pay and safety standards that genera ons of UAW members have fought for,” Fain’s statement said. “As the president said, the UAW helped build the middle class and we are figh ng for contracts that will bring prosperity back to workingclass communi es that have been struggling for far too long. “The (Detroit 3) have been extraordinarily profitable for years now, making a quarter-trillion dollars in North American profits over the last decade and another $21 billion in total profits in the first half of this year. With the president’s support, we know those profits can be invested in collec ve bargaining agreements that li up autoworkers, our families and our communi es.”

Representa ves for Ford and GM did not respond to requests for comment.

A strike at any of the automakers would hit earnings by about $400 million to $500 million per week of producon, Deutsche Bank analyst Emmanuel Rosner said in a research note on Monday. The union’s requests also carry costs due to its requested wage increases, cost-of-living adjustments and elimina on of the two- ered wage system, Rosner noted. Deutsche Bank es mated total incremental costs to the three automakers combined would be $3.6 billion in the first year and total $23 billion in the four years of the contract.

But other cost es mates have been far higher.

STATEMENT ISSUED AUG. 14 FROM PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN ON THE UAW AND DETROIT 3 CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS

“The middle class built America, and unions built the middle class. The need to transi on to a clean energy economy should provide a win-win opportunity for auto companies and unionized workers. It should enable workers to make good wages and benefits to support their families, while leading us into a future where America is leading the way in reducing vehicle emissions and producing autos that will successfully compete domes cally and globally. Companies should use this process to make sure they enlist their workers in the next chapter of the industry by offering them good paying jobs and a say in the future of their workplace.

“As the Big Three auto companies and the United Auto Workers come together — one month before the expira on of their contract — to nego ate a new agreement, I want to be clear about where I stand. I’m asking all sides to work together to forge a fair agreement.

“I support a fair transi on to a clean energy future. That means ensuring that Big Three auto jobs are good jobs that can support a family; that auto companies should honor the right to organize; take every possible step to avoid painful plant closings; and ensure that when transi ons are needed, the transi ons are fair and look to retool, reboot, and rehire in the same factories and communi es at comparable wages, while giving existing workers the first shot to fill those jobs. The UAW helped create the American middle class and as we move forward in this transi on to new technologies, the UAW deserves a contract that sustains the middle class.”

Source: www.autonews.com

Stellantis’ $25,000 EV price target clashing with the UAW’s demands

Stellan s’ impera ve to reduce its fixed-cost structure in pursuit of more affordable EVs is clashing with the UAW’s demands for higher wages and benefits at the bargaining table. It’s not that there aren’t many electric vehicles at the $25,000 price point that Stellan s CEO Carlos Tavares asserts is the sweet spot.

There are none at all, from Stellan s or any other manufacturer, with s cker prices below that mark today.

Whether Stellan s and other manufacturers can hit such an ambi ous target on a wide scale in the coming years remains to be seen, but Tavares said producing EVs that are a ainable for the middle class should be a topic of discussion during this year’s UAW contract nego a ons.

Reaching that price range, Tavares said last month, will be crucial to protec ng jobs in the long run. Tavares has said in the past that Stellan s would need to absorb the addi onal costs that come with building EVs and not pass them onto consumers.

The company’s impera ve to reduce its fixed-cost structure in pursuit of more affordable EVs is clashing with the UAW’s demands for higher wages and benefits at the bargaining table.

Stellan s has budget-friendly electric op ons on the way in Europe from Fiat and Citroen. The Citroen e-C3, arriving early next year and a Fiat Panda-inspired model to be unveiled in July 2024 are expected to be priced below €25,000 ($27,500).

“We need to work very hard to reach that point,” Tavares said of a $25,000 EV for the U.S. market. “Part of the things we need to discuss with our union partners is how we make affordable EVs in the U.S. that the middle classes can buy and that they are sustainable because they are profitable.”

UAW President Shawn Fain said automakers can build affordable EVs in the U.S. but not by making workers sacrifice.

“The electric vehicle transi on does not have to be a race to the bo om. Unfortunately, Stellan s has taken the low-road approach, resul ng in closed plants and destroyed communi es,” Fain said in a statement to Automo ve News. “Stellan s’ business model is broken, and un l they fix it, they’ll never hit that $25,000 target.”

The industry s ll has a ways to go before it consistently delivers EVs under $30,000 in the U.S. The outgoing genera on of the Chevrolet Bolt EV is the least costly, at $27,495 including shipping.

The other op on is the Nissan Leaf, which, like the Bolt, is a small car. Consumers wan ng more space and variety have to look upstream.

Some industry observers wonder if profitability will be nonexistent for an EV around $25,000. And ge ng to that price could mean stripping out much of what consumers want in a vehicle.

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Doug Be s, president of global automo ve at J.D. Power, pointed to Tesla’s minimal interiors as an approach that could be adopted by more manufacturers. Be s said $25,000 EVs would definitely open up the market, but he thinks building them would require more cost reduc ons in addi on to the savings realized as ba ery prices come down in the coming years.

It has been rumored that Tesla could add a $25,000 hatchback to its lineup at some point.

“One of the things about the Teslas is that they’re very spartan,” Be s told Automo ve News. “They pull it off in the name of technology. They’ve got the one big screen in the car. There’s not a lot of other stuff so, praccally, they’re pu ng everything into that screen, and they’re probably saving a lot of money by not having all the redundant bu ons and things like that.”

Tavares’ $25,000 goal is interes ng but not one that can be achieved quickly, said Stephanie Brinley, associate director of AutoIntelligence for S&P Global Mobility.

The industry is going to need more affordable products of all powertrains, Brinley said, to return to U.S. sales of 16 million or 17 million vehicles a year, meaning automakers should be looking to shave EV price tags however they can, even if they’re not beholden to a specific dollar target.

“The broader ques on and issue is ge ng electric vehicles that are more affordable price points more so than specifically $25,000 being that price point,” Brinley said. “Because we have some that, with incen ves, get that low [although] not very many.”

Another challenge is ge ng the EV supply chain to the level that it can support an influx of new entries.

“Right now, it looks like EV sales are not necessarily slowing or collapsing or anything of the sort, but the take rate is slowing down a li le bit,” Brinley said. “If somebody waved a magic wand and said these are affordable and profitable, and all cars are going to be EV tomorrow, it’s just not possible. “

Bringing out a profitable yet “cheap” EV in the $25,000 range is s ll about a decade away for most automakers, said Sam Fiorani, vice president of global vehicle forecas ng for AutoForecast Solu ons. Fiorani sees limita ons on which segments manufacturers could enter at that price, with many of them likely being compact models for the me being. The journey to profitability, he said, will take me.

“Everybody keeps saying how Ford is losing money on their EVs, and Tesla is profitable, but it took a decade to be profitable, so expec ng the legacy automakers just to be profitable on Day One is absurd,” Fiorani told Automo ve News. “Lower the price to $30,000, it’s going to push that profitability even further out.”

Stellan s CEO Carlos Tavares said a $25,000 price point for EVs is crucial, but there are none at that price today. The Chevrolet Bolt EV is the least costly, at $27,495 including shipping.

Source: www.autonews.com

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Trucking bankruptcy highlights auto-industry logistics concerns

Truck driver shortages, backups at ports and heightened shipping costs have put strain on the automo ve supply chain in recent years.

Last week’s bankruptcy of one of the largest trucking companies in the U.S. serves as a reminder to suppliers of the s ll-fragile state of the supply chain, industry experts said.

Trucking company Yellow Corp., a once-dominant player in the “less-than truckload” segment that hauls cargo for mul ple customers on a single truck, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protec on and laid off 30,000 workers Aug. 7, about a week a er it had halted opera ons. Yellow, whose customers included major retailers and manufacturers, had a market share of 8 to 10 percent, according to brokerage TD Cowen.

“I think the Yellow bankruptcy is going to have more of an impact than we think, and I don’t believe we’ve fully seen it yet,” said Laurie Harbour, CEO of Harbour Results Inc., which advises tool and die companies and other manufacturers.

The bankruptcy comes as the auto industry con nues to sort through various supply chain issues. While many of the problems that have dogged auto manufacturers in recent years, including the microchip shortage, have eased in recent months, transporta on issues have been singled out by some supply chain experts as an issue to keep an eye on moving forward.

The concern is not a new one. Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, automakers and suppliers have dealt with higher costs for logis cs and shipping, whether by rail, truck, boat or plane, to the tune of as much as 30 to 40 percent increases when compared with before the pandemic, Harbour said.

Increased transporta on costs and greater logis cs uncertainty are among the factors that have contributed to the heightened financial pressure many suppliers have faced in recent years.

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“All of those factors sort of get ne ed into the ask by suppliers with their customers” when seeking financial relief, said Michael Robinet, execu ve director of Automo ve Advisory Services at S&P Global Mobility.

Limited impact?

To be sure, the impact of Yellow’s bankruptcy on the auto industry is uncertain. It could be quite limited, said Dan Hearsch, managing director at AlixPartners.

“I suspect that there are some blips that are specific to models or maybe something to do with a par cular carrier,” he said, referring to broader transporta on concerns. “But otherwise, we’re not hearing much disrup on on things ge ng moved around.”

S ll, suppliers have been ra led by heightened uncertainty in recent years, Harbour said. Shortages of truck drivers and rail cars and backups at ports have all forced parts makers and tool and die companies to re-examine their supply chains, she said.

“In some regards, you think logis cs is just sort of a given, that you’d be able to find someone to move something,” she said. “That should be easy, but it’s not so much the case.”

Premium freight became a “massive problem” for suppliers and automakers during the early parts of the pandemic, especially as supply disrup ons such as the microchip shortage made produc on schedules less reliable, Robinet said.

“Those costs have come down, but that’s something suppliers have had to deal with,” he said.

How much of a dent logis cs issues have made to any given supplier’s bo om line depends in large part on its physical footprint.

“For some, logis cs are a small por on of their total costs, but for others whose components are larger or they have subsystems coming from Mexico or other lower-cost loca ons, logis cs could be a higher cost,” Robinet said.

Those costs could be a factor in suppliers re-examining their manufacturing footprints and their supply chains, Harbour said. “This is going to drive a lot of discussion about where you’re located as a supplier in rela on to an assembly plant,” she said. “If I’m across the street, that’s different than if I’m 100 miles away or 1,000 miles away.”

Reducing expenses

One way to reduce shipping expenses over the long run would be to source more components locally or to ship parts to automakers over shorter distances.

Many companies are already revamping their supply chains as electrifica on ramps up, given new federal incen ves and heightened geopoli cal tensions making the prospect of shipping parts or vehicles around the globe less appealing in some cases. Con nued concerns around transporta on and logis cs could only serve to further incen vize companies to regionalize their supply chains.

“This is an issue that’s everywhere,” Harbour said. “It’s maybe not impac ng the industry as bad as semiconductors, but it certainly has the poten al to be [that bad] as we con nue to have growing demand.”

Reuters contributed to this report. Ar cle by John Irwin

Looking back on Chrysler 300’s run as a pop culture staple

The Chrysler 300 was considered the businessman’s muscle car when it arrived in 1955 with a blend of style and rear-wheel-drive performance flowing from the early Hemi V-8 engine.

Chrysler went back to that formula nearly 50 years later with a reimagined descendant that became a pop culture icon and rejuvenated the company’s image. The automaker sought to create a cool but affordable car that was “unabashedly Am- erican,” recalled Stellan s design chief Ralph Gilles, who was design director for the 300 that debuted in 2004.

The 300’s run comes to an end in December, when produc on concludes so Ontario’s Brampton Assembly Plant can be retooled for electric vehicles. A relic of the DaimlerChrysler era, the 300 was the lead vehicle on the LX platform that also underpinned the Dodge Charger and the short-lived Dodge Magnum.

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The assembly plant for the Chrysler 300 — the car driven by Snoop Dogg and former President Barack Obama — is being retooled to build EVs.

Leaders in the Sale of Quality Mopar Parts

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A well-kept 2005 model, Gilles said, s ll looks good on the road a er all these years. He said the nostalgia factor of the design hit a chord with the public when it debuted.

“If you remember back in the late ‘90s, and even throughout the ‘90s, we were showing the Chrysler brand as a very premium American brand,” Gilles told Automo ve News at the 2022 Detroit auto show, where Chrysler unveiled a final-year, 485-hp 300C special edi on. “A lot of grand show cars, we were showing all these very powerful, very hard-to-forget type of designs. That was the idea with the 300, to recapture that, that proud American car. For a while, American cars were trying to be Eurocentricly styled. We’re like, ‘No, don’t be ashamed of who you are. Celebrate your swagger.’ “

Research clinics

Two decades ago, Chrysler wanted the 300 to take the brand to a new place while remaining true to its heritage.

Although the 300M that came out in 1999 bore the name, the “cab forward” sedan, as Gilles called it, was a front-wheel-drive entry with a run-of-the-mill V-6.

The next 300 would have rwd and need a more substan al front end to cool its Hemi V-8 engine. Designer Bob Hubbach, Gilles said, wanted to bring back the “grand” American car.

“They started there and we toyed around,” Gilles said. “And finally, we saw a theme, but it wasn’t the favorite theme, actually. I loved it at the beginning. I just thought it was cool, and I took it under my wing and kept working it, kept trying to get propor ons right.”

The design crew cra ed a mockup and began showing it to consumers during research clinics. The vehicle, called the Nassau, had no badging that could p people off on the brand.

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exchange of information by like sized dealers in a non-competitive environment.

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Many of the consumers in the clinics were baby boomers in their 40s, 50s and 60s and immediately recognized it as a new Chrysler 300, said Mike Perugi, who was the car’s marke ng launch manager. “And nobody anywhere, except us internally,” he said, “had even seen this thing.”

Perugi said the design reminded people of bygone mes when they went for Sunday drives with their parents. The produc on 300 closely resembled the Nassau.

“We said, ‘We’ve got something here,’ “ Perugi said. “There used to be an inside joke that if you were researching vehicles, you could tell whether or not you’re going to get five years out of them or more than five years. And this one, we basically said to ourselves, jokingly, we could get 10 good years out of this model. ... Fast forward, we’re just short of 20 years on that vehicle, and it’s s ll done very well to this day.”

Name debate

There was some debate within the company about what to call the 300. Some of the newer execu ves wanted to use the name Nassau.

To make the case for calling it the 300, Perugi procured an array of vintage 300 models from collectors and parked them in the automaker’s execu ve garage. He then gave the leadership a quick history lesson.

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“We had to figure out a way to show them that this thing is based on a true lineage of classics and that the Chrysler 300 means something to its customers,” Perugi said. “For us to call this car anything other than the 300, we would be shoo ng ourselves in the foot.”

The 300C debuted at the 2004 Detroit auto show, a few months before its spring sales launch.

It had a high beltline, short windows and a front end inspired by the Chrysler Chronos concept shown in 1998.

“What we like to do as designers is create something that will look good forever, and a lot of that’s good propor ons,” Gilles said. “We cut a really good deal with engineering to give us a really good stance on the vehicle. Once a vehicle has good stance, it should always look pre y good forever.”

The new 300 elevated the Chrysler brand from the Concorde, LHS and 300M. Perugi said it was one of the first models to use parts from Daimler vehicles.

The sedan was so popular at first that Chrysler was backed up with orders for about five months. Perugi said Chrysler’s share of Black consumers doubled within the first year. Among the early customers were rapper Snoop Dogg and then-Sen. Barack Obama.

U.S. sales of the car nearly reached 113,000 in 2004 and topped 140,000 in each of the next two years. Chrysler CEO Chris ne Feuell said the brand has sold more than 1.2 million 300s since the launch.

Gilles said one of the secrets to the 300’s longevity is that it came to be viewed as a canvas for self-expression.

“Some mes you can buy a vehicle ready-made with his expression all said and done, and there are certain vehicles that welcome it,” Gilles said. “The Wrangler is one of those; 300 is one of those, where it just begs people to put their own spice on it.”

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of

by like sized dealers in a non-competitive environment.

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Pop culture

The 300 appeared in music videos for ar sts such as 50 Cent and on “MTV Cribs,” a show that peeked into celebri es’ homes.

Its embrace by the hip-hop community led Chrysler to put the Beats audio system from producer and rapper Dr. Dre in the 300S, with Dre himself appearing in an ad campaign for the car.

The pop culture placements were the handiwork of BJ Birtwell, who was Chrysler’s youth marke ng manager during the 300’s early years.

Birtwell was tasked with driving engagement and awareness among mul cultural and younger buyers. This was before social media took off, so pla orms such as music videos were prime real estate.

The brand used a lot of guerilla marke ng to garner a en on for the 300, Charger and Magnum, he said. Birtwell credited Gilles and his team for birthing a design and DaimlerChrysler for giving the crea ve freedom needed to make it a success.

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Leaders in the Sale of Quality Mopar Parts

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The “street team” some mes swarmed ci es with a collec on of lowered 300s that were ou i ed with 22inch rims and nted windows. They once took a few onto San Francisco’s Golden Gate Bridge for a photo op.

The automaker partnered with Dub Magazine, which covers urban custom car culture, on a series of specialedi on models. The rela onship extended to parts such as floor mats, chrome accents, lowering springs and a 3-inch performance exhaust.

There was even a diamond-studded 300C clock from Jacob & Co., a popular jeweler among rappers.

Birtwell said the trick was to place the 300 with the right people while avoiding overcommercializa on.

“Even though [musicians] could afford a Bentley, there was something about the 300C or the Charger or even the Magnum that was really desirable,” Birtwell said. “I remember doing stuff with Nelly, all types of different ar sts, that were just really easy collabora ons because the product was hot.”

2 0 2 3 M o p a r M a s t e r s G u i l d 2023 Mopar Masters Guild

Officers:

O

f f i c e r s & C o m m i t t e e s

Officers & Committees

OEConnection

President - Joe McBeth - Dallas DCJ – Dallas, TX

Vice - Pres - Cody Eckhardt - Larry Miller DCJR - Sandy, UT

Secretary – Jim Jaeger – Bosak Motors – Merrillville, IN

Treasurer – Chris Hojnacki – Milosch’s CDJR – Lake Orion, MI

Executive Committee - All Officers Including:

Dan Hutton - Tom O’Brien DCJR - Greenwood, IN

Alan Yancey - Hayes CDJ - Alto, GA

Rick Cutaia - Rick Hendrick DCJR – Charleston, SC

Steve Hofer – Park Chrysler Jeep – Burnsville, MN

Susan McDaniel – Bill Luke CJD – Phoenix, AZ

Guild Committees

Nada 2022 Planning

Jill Vance - Apogee Event Agency

Don Cushing - MMG Magazine

Finance Committee

Chris Hojnacki - Milosch’s CDJR – Lake Orion, MI

Susan McDaniel - Bill Luke CJD – Phoenix, AZ

Don Cushing – MMG Magazine

Newsletter/Website/Social Media

Don Cushing – MMG Magazine

Vendor Committees

Reynolds & Reynolds

Rick Cutaia - Rick Hendrick DCJR – Charleston, SC (Co-Chair)

Susan McDaniel – Bill Luke CJD – Phoenix, AZ (Co-Chair)

Joe Handzik - Bettenhausen Auto - Tinley Park, IL

Randy Rogers - Huffines CJDR - Plano, TX

Kent Cogswell - Jack Phelan CDJR - Countryside, IL

*David Kiser - Spartanburg CDJR - Spartanburg, SC

*Chris Hojnacki - Milosch’s CDJR – Lake Orion, MI

CDK Global

Joe McBeth - Dallas DCJ – Dallas, TX (Chair)

Ian Grohs – Stateline CDJR – Fort Mill, SC

Mick Padgeon - Fred Beans Parts - Doylestown, PA

Cody Eckhardt - Larry Miller DCJR - Sandy, UT

Robert Chatwin - Larry Miller DCJR - Sandy, UT

Dan Hutton - Tom O’Brien DCJR - Greenwood, IN

*Steve Hofer – Park Chrysler Jeep – Burnsville, MN

*Jim Jaeger - Bosak Auto Group - Merrillville, IN

Dan Hutton - Tom O’Brien CJD – Greenwood, IN (Chair)

Joe McBeth - Dallas DCJ – Dallas, TX

Jim Jaeger - Bosak Motors - Merrillville, IN

Chris Hojnacki - Milosch’s CDJR – Lake Orion, MI

*Steve Hofer – Park Chrysler Jeep – Burnsville, MN

Snap On Business Solutions

Cody Eckhardt - Larry Miller DCJR - Sandy, UT (Chair)

Randy Rogers - Huffines CJDR - Plano, TX

*Steve Hofer – Park Chrysler Jeep – Burnsville, MN

AER Manufacturing

Robert Chatwin - Larry Miller DCJR - Sandy, UT (Chair)

John Waltereit - Milosch’s Palace CDJR - Lake Orion, MI

Ted Hawkins - Cerritos Dodge - Cerritos. CA

Chris Hojnacki - Milosch’s CDJR – Lake Orion, MI

*Josh Gouldsmith - Gladstone CDJR - Gladstone, MO

*Joe Handzik - Bettenhausen Auto - Tinley Park, IL

Vendor Chairs

Susan McDaniel - Bill Luke CJD – Phoenix, AZ

Cody Eckhardt - Larry Miller DCJR - Sandy, UT

*Alternate

The