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

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

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

Sales of Ram pickups, the company'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 world that was formed in the 2021 merger 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 transition to electric muscle cars.

Tavares stepped down Dec. 1 after the company posted poor financial results and sales were faltering. The company's board said it had a different view from Tavares for the company's future.