Americans spend about $500 billion on replacement car parts each year, and business isn’t bad because high prices for new cars are forcing a growing number of people to keep their older cars on the road longer. But there’s a sliver of this business – about one-tenth the size – that isn’t just about routine maintenance, new tires or wipers, or replacement brake pads.
We’re talking about performance parts to kick up the horsepower, or make more noise. These might be extravagant options for many car owners, but they constitute gotta-have equipment for car enthusiasts young and old who want more than what the factory is pushing out. These devout gearheads spend a staggering $50 billion each year in the US on new exhaust systems, bigger turbos and superchargers, sport suspensions, and even turn-key crate engines, according to SEMA.
Direct Connection SRT concept Ram and Dodge vehicles from Fox Factory, Hennessey, and RoushTom Murphy / CarBuzz / Valnet
SRT, Direct Connection On The Rise
Stellantis is trying to grab a bigger piece of this pie. Mopar has long been associated with Chrysler-company parts and go-fast goodies, notably throughout the heyday of the original muscle car era. Now, Mopar is only part of a quickly growing empire. Chrysler launched Direct Connection in 1974 as a factory-backed performance parts and racing division, giving professional-grade “Hustle Stuff” to everyday enthusiasts, along with technical catalogs and modification advice. Chrysler retired the Direct Connection brand name in 1987 and transitioned the lineup into Mopar Performance.
Today, after a corporate shake-up at Stellantis that installed new CEO Antonio Filosa and brought performance-minded Tim Kuniskis back from retirement, the revived Direct Connection product offerings are getting renewed attention within Stellantis, particularly this week in suburban Detroit as hundreds of thousands of classic car enthusiasts converge at the Woodward Dream Cruise.
Direct Connection SRT concept Ram and Dodge vehicles from Fox Factory, Hennessey, and RoushTom Murphy / CarBuzz / Valnet
A Little Help From SRT’s Friends
CarBuzz visited SRT last week at Detroit’s Conner Center, the former Chrysler plant that assembled the Dodge Viper. Direct Connection consumed the spotlight with high-performance variants of Ram pickup trucks as modified by Roush, Fox Factory, and Hennessey. The point of these concepts was to show how factory trucks could deliver so much more, using Direct Connection parts as these outfitters pushed for more performance.
And these efforts to excite enthusiasts tie directly to the mission of Stellantis’ SRT operations, now being led by Senior Vice President Tom Sacoman, who sees plenty of growth potential.
SRT boss Tom Sacoman with 2027 Ram SRT TRXStellantis
“Look, the aftermarket business – there’s plenty of business to go around.”
–Tom Sacoman, SRT Senior Vice President
“It’s a big market, and a lot of people like a lot of different things,” Sacoman told CarBuzz. “What we want to do is get connected with some of the trusted partners outside, and that just extends the portfolio.”
And there’s more to come, as other aftermarket-driven vehicles are “still under development” and “subject to further announcements,” Sacoman told us. “SRT’s job is to elevate the brands that it associates with. We elevate Dodge. We elevate Jeep. We elevate Ram. We elevate Mopar.”
A Market Not To Be Ignored
Direct Connection SRT concept Ram and Dodge vehicles from Fox Factory, Hennessey, and RoushTom Murphy / CarBuzz / Valnet
What exactly are we talking about with Direct Connection hardware? Their website says you can “disturb the peace” with a $3,500 cat-back exhaust system from GTHAUS for your Challenger with the 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8, or try the $2,750 rear diffuser from SpeedKore. If money’s no object, spring for the $32,665 “Hellephant” 6.2-liter supercharged crate engine, churning out 1,025 horsepower and 945 pound-feet of torque.
In simple words, with a little help from SRT, Direct Connection should have something for pretty much any level of enthusiast fun.
CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
Collaborating with Fox, Hennessey, and Roush appears to be just the beginning of what SRT hopes to achieve with modified production vehicles using Direct Connection parts. Beyond the outside contracted help, SRT is unleashing its engineers to “develop fast cars fast,” as was seen last week with the revealed Jeep Grand Cherokee concept powered with an electrically driven eBoost Air compressor to push more air through the twin turbos of the inline six-cylinder Hurricane engine.
Stellantis can’t afford to ignore these speed-loving customers. Their loyalty helps keep the lights on.
Close
