2022 Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat (left) and 2022 Dodge Challenger SRT Super Stock
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DETROIT – Dodge will discontinue production of the gasoline-powered Challenger and Charger muscle cars by the end of next year, marking the end of the brand’s era of transition to electric vehicles.
Since its revival in the mid to late 2000s, Charger and Challenger – well-known names in the 1960s and 1970s – became mainstays for Dodge and popular vehicles for the new generation of new transmissions.
The two-door Challenger in particular has earned its buyers nostalgia with its retro-inspired styling, while the Four-Door Charger has achieved notable sales milestones despite consumers. flocking from sedans to SUVs In recent years.
Dodge can also profit from cars with starting prices ranging from $30,000 to nearly $90,000 for the notorious Hellcat models producing more than 700 horsepower.
“Dodge, with the Challenger and Charger, they’ve really found a way to really get to the roots of that muscle car,” said Stephanie Brinley, principal analyst at S&P Global. It’s clear what they’re supposed to be helping make the transition to electricity.”
Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis has alluded to the possibility that the Charger and Challenger names could be used for future electric car, including an electric muscle car coming in 2024. He has previously said he believes in electrification – whether hybrids with less powerful engines or all-electric models. electricity – will save what he calls new “The Golden Age of Muscle Cars.”
For several years, Kuniskis has warned that time is ending for gas-powered muscle cars due to emissions regulations. Dodge’s parent company Stellantisformerly Fiat Chrysler, ranks worst among major manufacturers in terms of average American corporate fuel economy and carbon emissions.
As more brands move to smaller and more fuel-efficient engines, Dodge has rolled out Hellcat models and other high performance vehicles. Such models helped generate attention for the brand but did nothing to help the automaker’s carbon footprint, forcing it to buy carbon credits from automakers like Tesla.
“The days of a 6.2-liter V-8 supercharged iron are numbered,” Kuniskis previously told CNBC, refers to engines as in Hellcat. “But the performance those cars produce is not numbered.”
Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis speaks on August 13, 2021 during a media event. At the back, the Fratzog logo is used alongside Dodge’s current logo.
Michael Wayland / CNBC
Dodge is rolling out a range of vehicles and specials to “celebrate” the end of cars as they are today. Dodge’s plans include seven special edition models, or “buzz,”; a “Last Call” commemorative plaque for all vehicles with the year 2023; and a new agent allocation process, among other measures.
The new dealer process will see Dodge allocating the 2023 Charger and Challenger models to shipments at once, rather than delivering orders throughout the year. Dodge will provide customers with instructions on locating specific models at each dealership.
The process, Kuniskis says, is meant to help customers get the specific vehicle they want.
“We wanted to make sure we were celebrating these cars in the right way,” Kuniskis said during a press conference announcing an event taking place this week in Pontiac, Michigan.
The Charger and Challenger are manufactured at Stellantis’ Brampton Assembly plant in Ontario, Canada. The company says it has produced more than 3 million Dodge vehicles at the plant, including 1.5 million chargers and more than 726,000 Challengers sold in the US.
Stellantis earlier this year announced the plan invested $2.8 billion in the factory and another Canadian facility, but did not disclose which vehicles will be produced at these facilities.
“When we close Brampton, this will be the 20-year run of Dodge muscle cars,” said Kuniskis. “We need to do this right.”
