New Dodge Hornet PHEV Will Come To Market In 2022!
New Dodge Hornet PHEV Will Come To Market In 2022!
Dodge's First Plug-In Will Be Italian Built...
Mike Volkmann
August 8, 2021
According to our sources, the vehicle in question is the upcoming 2023 Dodge Hornet SUV. You might remember, we briefly touched on the new Hornet in a previous post. The new compact SUV will be a similar size to the current Jeep Compass and will be based on the upcoming Alfa Romeo Tonale. In fact, it will be manufactured alongside the Tonale in Italy. That’s right, an Italian-built Dodge SUV.
Internally known as “GG” or “5920”, the new Hornet will ultimately be a replacement for the recently discontinued Dodge Journey, despite it only being a two-row variant.
Whole article at: New Dodge Hornet PHEV Will Come To Market In 2022!
Dodge's First Plug-In Will Be Italian Built...
Mike Volkmann
August 8, 2021
According to our sources, the vehicle in question is the upcoming 2023 Dodge Hornet SUV. You might remember, we briefly touched on the new Hornet in a previous post. The new compact SUV will be a similar size to the current Jeep Compass and will be based on the upcoming Alfa Romeo Tonale. In fact, it will be manufactured alongside the Tonale in Italy. That’s right, an Italian-built Dodge SUV.
Internally known as “GG” or “5920”, the new Hornet will ultimately be a replacement for the recently discontinued Dodge Journey, despite it only being a two-row variant.
Whole article at: New Dodge Hornet PHEV Will Come To Market In 2022!
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It would be replacing it in the sense that it’s an entry level crossover. The Journey’s third row was nearly useless.
2002 Ram 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 with Cummins. 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Altitude
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This vehicle is interesting. To fit Dodge's performance image, it may be above entry level. A quality launch will help. It's still months away, so it'll be an interesting watch.
1974 Plymouth Valiant - 2013 Dodge Dart - 2013 Chrysler 300C
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Well ... figure the Dodge and Alfa are basically clones, except the Alfa has a bunch of expensive lightweight parts and the Dodge does not, the suspensions are tuned differently (springs, steering response, and such), and the Dodge is set up to use American engine oil; then Marketing changes the performance specs slightly, giving the Alfa a more revvy version of the engine with more peak horsepower and Dodge a bit more torque (but not admitting to it); different programs for the transmission, but the same hardware; and of course different dashboard graphics in roughly the same layout, to save $$$. The Dodge could keep the Jeep Compass' dash, whil ethe Alfa gets its own, alternatively.
It really did surprise me that as flex manufacturing made it easier to do different cars with the same foundations, FCA chose to make each car semi-unique. Except, of course, when they didn't, like 500X/Renegade.
2002 Ram 2500 Quad Cab 4x4 with Cummins. 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee L Altitude
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While I totally agree about Belvidere, they need product ASAP. This is probably the quickest way to get it.
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We can hope that Belvidere gets a second product when the Cherokee is replaced. The Cherokee has underperformed in the marketplace and has been unable to sustain the plant....as many of us predicted long ago. 200 and Dart could have been built alongside Cherokee at very low volumes to keep the plant busy and keep the company's presence in the marketplace. Hopefully, Stellantis will end the short-sighted idea of one plant/one product that has hurt the company and has hurt the assembly line workers.
Meanwhile, the Italian plants were even more underutilized. By having Renegade and 500X on the same line, it helped Melfi be better utilized. By adding the Compass to Melfi, the plant is finally where it should be. It is not a coincidence that Tavares first visited the Italian plants to see how bad the situation has become. With new product for Alfa, Lancia and Fiat underway, expect those plants to get the love they deserve.
I am happy that Dodge might be getting another product. This is definately NOT a Journey replacement. Anyone who claims that does not know the products well enough. This is where Dodge CUVs should start in size. There should be nothing smaller for Dodge. We can hope that a true Journey replacement is in the works as it was an assinine decision to not refresh or create a replacement.
Most of the North American product has to wait until Stellantis creates it. The chart in the article shows that other than this single Dodge, FCA had no plans for new Chrysler or Dodge products as the pipeline is empty. Nothing new for Fiat or Lancia as well.
But, it is best that we let new management create the new product as they seem to have more ability to create compelling vehicles in the electrified space and market. Of course, that success has been in EMEA, not North America. But FCA was incapable of creating successful product in EMEA also, so at least we are making progress as a company.
Toluca will not be exporting the Compass to EMEA since it was added to Melfi. That means Toluca will be underutilized. Perhaps they could be retooled to build the Renegade and Compass. But they really need the 4xe in North America badly as the ICE-only versions are underpowered sales duds.
I agree .. but one would think that a safety system is in place, like an enclosed fire suppression system with temp controlled cooling etc.
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If it looks like this...
![81918]()
...I might be interested in one. 😎
The one thing the Hornet has to get right out of the gate is have a High-Po variant right out the gate. Not having a High-Po variant is one thing that hurt the Dodge Dart when it was released.
...I might be interested in one. 😎
The one thing the Hornet has to get right out of the gate is have a High-Po variant right out the gate. Not having a High-Po variant is one thing that hurt the Dodge Dart when it was released.
Pretty much that, although the dashboard and other visible parts will be unique. These are actually pretty cheap and easy to change within the same architecture (and allowing this customisation is kind of the whole point of the Small-Wide architecture family). Switchgear will be common. Instrument layout will be different, for branding reasons, but as the instrument binnacle is entirely software-generated, this is a zero inventory cost.
On performance, a lot of it is down to the mapping of the throttle input from the accelerator pedal; there’s often no need to change the engine programming at all. Similarly, with electric steering systems (which these have), you can achieve both the Alfa’s signature short-rack quick-response and a more American style straight-ahead bias with very little hardware change. Brakes would be one area where you could see difference in available hardware.
The Hornet/Tonale 1.5 engine is from the GSE family, which is not as fussy about oil as the MultiAir FIRE 1.4 engine was. Both will also achieve their EPA mileage with low-octane fuel, and while the Alfa manual may end up quoting a higher power output when using premium, the same would be true of the Dodge with a small chip-tuning. Coupling this to a PHEV also gives a lot of leeway for tuning the off-the-line performance in order to differentiate the brands further.
What FCA is doing is basically the same outcomes as flex: within a given architecture (e.g. Small-Wide), everything under the hood is pretty much in the same place in each model, although the exact part that you find in that place (or even if it’s there!) can differ between models. Where FCA’s approach (and PSA’s, for that matter) steps back from flex is in ditching the idea of being able to chop and change model type at each build slot: given how cars are bought and delivered (especially in the USA where bulk ordering is the norm), there is no meaningful benefit to being able to do this “live”, compared to changing less frequently.
Given that Belvidere was able to build any of the CUSW cars simultaneously (except Pacifica, which is too big), the decision to limit one factory to one model in the USA seems to be purely an operational one, and I suspect is about getting better pricing from suppliers (complexity and variation of parts inventory costs money). It also reduces training costs per site.
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@Cleffy - the battery type is Lithium Nickel Manganese Cobalt (“NMC”) as used by almost all EV makers except Tesla. This chemistry is still a Lithium-ion type, but is far less likely to catch to fire, and much less dangerous if it does, than the Lithium Nickel Cobalt Aluminum (“NCA”) cells used by Tesla.
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There should not be a replacement for the Journey under any brand other than possibly Jeep. That could be the Commander in other countries, which is the small-wide Compass based three-row SUV. Journey was cheap because it was outdated. It still had a four-speed automatic, the third row was nearly useless, it hadn't been redesigned in years, and had no advanced safety tech. They could not replace it directly with a modern vehicle unless they were prepared to lose money on each vehicle or if buyers were willing to spend substantially more.
Journey's function as a new vehicle was to provide people with poor credit or families without the need of any modern technology a cheap piece of transportation that had a bare-minimum third row. It was the sub-prime queen. Some won't want to hear that, but it's true. That's the only reason we ever kept any in inventory. Those buyers would not likely be willing to fork over thousands of dollars more on a more advanced vehicle when the reason they bought the Journey in the first place was the low price and lack of technology. The price was literally its only redeeming quality and that's also the thing that can't/shouldn't be replicated in a replacement.
If they want to build a vehicle to target the heart of the midsize 3-row segment it should start around $30k. But even then, that is not a replacement for the Journey as the Journey was far less expensive than that.
Journey's function as a new vehicle was to provide people with poor credit or families without the need of any modern technology a cheap piece of transportation that had a bare-minimum third row. It was the sub-prime queen. Some won't want to hear that, but it's true. That's the only reason we ever kept any in inventory. Those buyers would not likely be willing to fork over thousands of dollars more on a more advanced vehicle when the reason they bought the Journey in the first place was the low price and lack of technology. The price was literally its only redeeming quality and that's also the thing that can't/shouldn't be replicated in a replacement.
If they want to build a vehicle to target the heart of the midsize 3-row segment it should start around $30k. But even then, that is not a replacement for the Journey as the Journey was far less expensive than that.
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Third row was not useless. My six foot tall son would sit back there with his daughter. It's not a minivan but it is a functional vehicle that gets no respect from car enthusiasts. Mine is an AWD, and I've taken it on off road vehicle trails.
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Given what we know, the only "High-Po" variant will be the PHEV version, which Alfa will share. In the Compass, the PHEV generates 240hp using the 1.3T. Since the Dodge/Alfa will use the 1.5T we might see a bit more.
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Dodge is rumored to also use the 2.0 turbo, so the potential SRT variant could get the 2.0 turbo/PHEV system. In the Wrangler 4xe, that produces 375 horsepower and 470 lb-ft of torque.
I think the Dodge could start with the 1.5, have the 2.0 optional for higher trim levels (R/T?), and get the 2.0 PHEV for the high-performance model. Just a guess.
1974 Plymouth Valiant - 2013 Dodge Dart - 2013 Chrysler 300C
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Yes, I would assume the digital stuff would be different, but any physical layouts would be the same, because that is quite expensive to develop.
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