The sales struggles and financial woes at Stellantis have been no secret in recent years.

But the U.S./Dutch/French/Italian automaker appears to have figured out what customers want – internal combustion engines – and plans to sell plenty of them to buyers.

Stellantis even plans to hire more workers soon at its Windsor assembly plant to increase production to keep up with demand.

“In anticipation of increased demand for the products built at the Windsor Assembly Plant, including all versions of the Chrysler Pacifica and the new SIXPACK-powered Dodge Charger Scat Pack and R/T models, Stellantis confirms that it will be returning the plant to a three-shift operation in early 2026, honouring a commitment made during 2023 Unifor negotiations,” the automaker said Sept. 9, as reported by me in another publication.

The Windsor plant had operated with three shifts until July 2020. When the third shift was cut back then, it eliminated about 1,500 jobs. The automaker said it’s too soon to know how many jobs will be created with the restart of the third shift.

Why the sudden demand?

Stellantis’ North American sales struggles became widely evident in 2024, during a time when the company was deep into its electrification transformation.

The Chrysler 300/Dodge Charger/Dodge Challenger trio was discontinued at the end of 2023 and their replacement was the Windsor-assembled electric two-door Charger (called Charger Daytona in electric form), which arrived near the end of 2024.

Automotive reviewers were, for the most part, fine with the electric “muscle” car, but buyers weren’t buying it.

Stellantis had, from the car’s launch, promised two-door and four-door variants as well as gasoline-burning and electric versions, but offered only two-door EVs to start, and, it appears, customers have been holding out for the fossil-fuel burning versions instead.

Those cars have finally arrived for the 2026 model year.

So, what is this SIXPACK?

The SIXPACK is the automaker’s new six-cylinder engine, in inline six (I6) configuration, not V6, and with power to match a V8.

In the Charger, you get a twin-turbo 3-litre I6 engine with two available power ratings.

The Charger R/T gets 420 hp and 468 lb.-ft. of torque.

The Charger Scat Pack gets 550 hp and 531 lb.-ft. of torque.

All-wheel drive is standard on all Charger models.

You should be able to buy the coupe versions shortly while the sedan versions will be available in the first half of 2026.

Rising demand in the fossil-fuel burning Charger is not the only reason why Stellantis sees a need to add another shift at the Windsor facility.

Stellantis also mentioned rising demand for the Chrysler Pacifica, which is also assembled in Windsor, as are its minivan siblings, Grand Caravan for Canada and Voyager for the U.S.

Through the second quarter of 2025, the Pacifica nearly doubled its Canadian sales numbers (96 per cent increase) compared to the same quarter in 2024, and sales are up 82 per cent across the country through the first half of the year.

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