The office janitor of a source that was feeding incorrect information about GM future product plans must have gotten a job in Auburn Hills recently, because Motor Trend recently published something only to get debunked officially by Stellantis shortly after. It’s not often that an automaker or brand goes on record to dispel a report, so we’re going to have to side with the official commentary for this one. The story claimed that Dodge is planning next-generation Charger and Challenger muscle cars on the STLA Large platform, with the Hurricane inline turbo-six serving duties in place of the 5.7L and 6.4L Hemi V8 engines. A Hellcat V8 would be available for the more expensive SRT performance models.
Dodge nipped that rumor almost immediately, going on record to say: “the story is incorrect. The Hemi in that platform, as well as that platform, are going away. The next generation will be BEV.”
Screenshot via Stellantis.
In all fairness, that plan probably was in the cards at one point, but the Stellantis EV Day presentations from last year really seemed to put ice on any expectation that Dodge would keep its Hemi V8 engines roaring. Although, we’d certainly like to believe. The Dodge Challenger and Charger in their current form are wildly popular, and profitable. The market is there. The customer is there. But they’re not politically correct. So, there you go.
We’ll get a closer look at what Dodge is cooking up soon during Speed Week in August. Following Roadkill Nights, Dodge plans on debuting three different products on the days leading up to the 2022 Woodward Dream Cruise. These plans include new versions of the Dodge Charger and Challenger – likely the 900+ hp Hellcat Redeye models with an E85 tune. The Dodge Hornet small SUV is also expected to debut, something Dodge is describing as “entry muscle,” which we’ll have to see about. Finally, Dodge is expected to tear the sheet off the show car version of its upcoming eMuscle car, which could rival the Tesla Model S Plaid in raw acceleration.
