Official Hornet release - great price for what you get!

Elroy the Brave said:

Why would anyone buy the Tonale when they can get essentially the same vehicle, for much cheaper by buying the Dodge?

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The glorious return of Alfa to North American turned out to be a fart in the wind; noticeable at first but made an unpleasant impression, then quickly forgotten about. The Tonale doesn’t have the dealer network to be able to supply the market and consumers aren’t interested in Alfa as a brand outside of well performing but niche vehicles. Dodge needed this vehicle years ago but had to wait while poor management decisions got cycled out with new leadership.

In the end, the Hornet is way more important to Dodge and Stellantis as a whole than the Tonale in NA.

GasAxe... yup.

FWIW, I posted Compass, Tonale, and Hornet specs together now, along with all the other specs available. All down near the bottom.

2023 Dodge Hornet: hot compact crossover

(The success of such articles will partly determine how much attention motales gets. I'd like to have a give-and-take with allpar there. It's a complementary site - no forum at motales, no new “allpar style” articles at allpar, so it balances. As such any social media and other sharing would be appreciated.)

GasAxe said:

The glorious return of Alfa to North American turned out to be a fart in the wind; noticeable at first but made an unpleasant impression, then quickly forgotten about. The Tonale doesn’t have the dealer network to be able to supply the market and consumers aren’t interested in Alfa as a brand outside of well performing but niche vehicles. Dodge needed this vehicle years ago but had to wait while poor management decisions got cycled out with new leadership.

In the end, the Hornet is way more important to Dodge and Stellantis as a whole than the Tonale in NA.

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The suv and sedan would've both fit Dodge's image almost to a tee. They would've made more money most likely selling those models here as a Dodge because of much greater volume. They could've made Alfa's for the areas that would've sold well. But, many of us have said that almost from the time precious money was allocated to Sergio's pipedream. His modern day Edsel.

Looks are decent just like every other SUV in that segment. It is hard to package any other way. Change grill, headlights, taillights etc. Or lose MPG Basic package is good, R/T sounds peppy and GLH more so. Is there a GLH insignia delete? And when does the GLHS come out?

GasAxe said:

In the end, the Hornet is way more important to Dodge and Stellantis as a whole than the Tonale in NA.

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Agreed, Hornet should definitely be the volume model. For that reason, wish the overall design were more Dodge-centric.

68RT said:

Looks are decent just like every other SUV in that segment. It is hard to package any other way. Change grill, headlights, taillights etc. Or lose MPG Basic package is good, R/T sounds peppy and GLH more so. Is there a GLH insignia delete? And when does the GLHS come out?

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Its just a Mopar Parts Concept for now.

It's not bad looking. Interior shots don't seem bad. It'll join the very crowded SUV segment. If Stellantis NA does this launch without much problem it'll probably sell. Will it sell in the volume they want? Anyone's guess.

GasAxe said:

The glorious return of Alfa to North American turned out to be a fart in the wind; noticeable at first but made an unpleasant impression, then quickly forgotten about. The Tonale doesn’t have the dealer network to be able to supply the market and consumers aren’t interested in Alfa as a brand outside of well performing but niche vehicles. Dodge needed this vehicle years ago but had to wait while poor management decisions got cycled out with new leadership.

In the end, the Hornet is way more important to Dodge and Stellantis as a whole than the Tonale in NA.

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I think that's a bit harsh. The Giulia and Stelvio were actually very well received by the press, it's just that nobody bought them. And I don't think that was because of any reputational issues, because people actually have to know that you exist in order for you to have a reputation.

Personally I am just fine with a Dodge model being based on an Alfa, it's not like Dodge styling has been setting the world on fire lately (especially the interiors). But admittedly this is coming from a long-time Alfa & Italian motoring fan...

first look ...

Mr. Fusion said:

I think that's a bit harsh. The Giulia and Stelvio were actually very well received by the press, it's just that nobody bought them. And I don't think that was because of any reputational issues, because people actually have to know that you exist in order for you to have a reputation.

Personally I am just fine with a Dodge model being based on an Alfa, it's not like Dodge styling has been setting the world on fire lately (especially the interiors). But admittedly this is coming from a long-time Alfa & Italian motoring fan...

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When every Giulia review mentioned that they really want to love the car, but so many problems, we know why Alfa stumbled. A quick review of the Alfa forums back then had lots of frustrated Giulia owners. Just like the Fiat launch in North America poor quality quickly soured what market there was. Stelvio launched better, but the image of poor quality was reinforced.
Even the new guy in charge of Alfa North America admitted quality was why the brand stumbled here.

I'm not a fan of the red badge on the nose. Makes the Dodge look like a clown. I can't unsee that now. Either move it to the side, or just make it black. Even silver would be better. That's the first modification I'd make.

Dave Z said:

THANK YOU!!

Here's my personal writeup, in the allpar style.

2023 Dodge Hornet: hot compact crossover

I think the fratzog is for BEVs.

I have interior pics on this page. I also have a summary. It's a neat little story if I say so myself. I had to read through a bunch of releases to grab the actual facts. Next, after lunch, I will see if it's on the Build & Price system and add a bit more. They didn't seem to release the model comparison in as much detail as usual. I might have missed it.

My dislike is the dark theme. Only black interiors. Only black photography! There's no reason for the logo to be so dark in the photo unless it's actually a black chrome.

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I just finished the article, great job.

One possible correction: On your Specifications table, it looks like the pricing for the "Plus" models may be switched.

I think my favorite thing is that the Blacktop package has been nicknamed "murder Hornet". I LOVE THAT.

valiant67 said:

When every Giulia review mentioned that they really want to love the car, but so many problems, we know why Alfa stumbled. A quick review of the Alfa forums back then had lots of frustrated Giulia owners. Just like the Fiat launch in North America poor quality quickly soured what market there was. Stelvio launched better, but the image of poor quality was reinforced.
Even the new guy in charge of Alfa North America admitted quality was why the brand stumbled here.

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Yup, exactly. And even though I’m not a likely Alfa buyer, I really wanted the brand to succeed in NA just because I have an irrational romance with Italian driver centric cars.

valiant67 said:

When every Giulia review mentioned that they really want to love the car, but so many problems, we know why Alfa stumbled. A quick review of the Alfa forums back then had lots of frustrated Giulia owners. Just like the Fiat launch in North America poor quality quickly soured what market there was. Stelvio launched better, but the image of poor quality was reinforced.
Even the new guy in charge of Alfa North America admitted quality was why the brand stumbled here.

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I mainly remember the MT and I believe Edmunds reviews, where they reported no issues. MT had a Giulia Quadrifoglio for one year as part of their long-term fleet, and in the final wrapup the editor said that not one thing went wrong on the car. Whereas the Genesis G70 they had at the same time was plagued with multiple major problems over the course of the year. (Their other least-reliable car that year was the Subaru Ascent.)

Mind you, I would not find it shocking to hear that other Giulia owners experienced problems, I'm just saying I do not remember any particular negativity from the initial press reviews. I remember at least one editor saying that they bought a Giulia for themselves. (Not including Jeremy Clarkson, who also supposedly bought one.)

Yes, "What could have been" if Sergio did what he (and others) proposed.....using Dodge volume to support Alfa exclusiveness.

But Sergio fell for the "Dodge and Chrysler are failed brands" preached from all the automotive 'experts' (who turned out to be wrong) and he decided to let Alfa go on its own. Coupled with his bean-counting crappy quality and abused dealer network that provided record low customer satisfaction, Alfa was doomed before it started. If Dodge was connected, it would have been further tarnished.

So, through Sergio's incompetence, Dodge dodged a bullet by being tied to more crappy vehicles.

Now Stellantis needs to prove that it is doing things differently. It is pairing Dodge with Alfa. It is talking a lot about quality for the Tonale launch. We will see if that translates to the Hornet.

Imparato said quality and dealers sucked under FCA. He now needs to demonstrate attention to the problem.

Mr. Fusion said:

I just finished the article, great job.
One possible correction: On your Specifications table, it looks like the pricing for the "Plus" models may be switched.

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Thank you! And that was correct. I had to merge two tables that were reversed.

Mr. Fusion said:

I mainly remember the MT and I believe Edmunds reviews, where they reported no issues. MT had a Giulia Quadrifoglio for one year as part of their long-term fleet, and in the final wrapup the editor said that not one thing went wrong on the car. Whereas the Genesis G70 they had at the same time was plagued with multiple major problems over the course of the year. (Their other least-reliable car that year was the Subaru Ascent.)

Mind you, I would not find it shocking to hear that other Giulia owners experienced problems, I'm just saying I do not remember any particular negativity from the initial press reviews. I remember at least one editor saying that they bought a Giulia for themselves. (Not including Jeremy Clarkson, who also supposedly bought one.)

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Then Car and Driver had better luck than Road and Track (who had test car that never completed a test lap). Or Top Gear. Or several others.
Alfa admitted the quality issues, so there is no brushing them away. They are an anchor dragging the brand down even if they’ve made strides in improving quality. Bad first impressions are hard to overcome.

Mr. Fusion said:

I just finished the article, great job.

One possible correction: On your Specifications table, it looks like the pricing for the "Plus" models may be switched.

I think my favorite thing is that the Blacktop package has been nicknamed "murder Hornet". I LOVE THAT.

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Tim Kuniskis said they have 14K Hornets ordered!! .

dodgeismycar said:

Tim Kuniskis said they have 14K Hornets ordered!! .

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Not sure if it’s different in Canada, but a family member went to the local dealer today to inquire about ordering a Hornet for his wife and they had no idea what he was talking about.

thebluegoat said:

Not sure if it’s different in Canada, but a family member went to the local dealer today to inquire about ordering a Hornet for his wife and they had no idea what he was talking about.

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Sounds like they wont release it there or will be delayed.