Dodge Confirms Hornet Plug-In Hybrid SUV, Electric Muscle Car Coming Soon
The Dodge Hornet is set to return to the U.S. market. According to a report from The Detroit News. Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis confirmed the Hornet will be the next vehicle to join the Dodge lineup, and it will be revealed this August during the automaker’s speed week festivities. Previously, Dodge had trademarked the Hornet name in Canada, the U.S., and Mexico.
Though Kuniskis declined to comment on where the Hornet will be produced, leaked factory images reveal the Dodge Hornet could hail from Europe, specifically from Alfa Romeo’s Pomigliano d’Arco Assembly Plant in Naples, Italy. That photographic hint suggests the Hornet will be a rebadged Alfa Romeo Tonale plug-in hybrid SUV. While the Tonale is set to launch this summer in the U.S., the Hornet could arrive on our shores early next year.
While details of the Hornet are scarce at this point, we know it will look nothing like the 2006 Dodge Hornet concept, or the original AMC Hornet. It’s unclear whether we will also get a non-plug-in-hybrid gas variant. The Tonale will be available with a 1.3-liter turbo four-cylinder engine mated to a 90-kW electric motor and a 15.5-kWh lithium-ion battery, a combo delivering 272 hp total. The more powerful mill is a 2.0-liter turbo-four that drops 256 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels. The Hornet could arrive with an identical powertrain setup.
With supply chain issues triggering delays across the industry, the Hornet’s debut or on-sale date could be pushed back, of course.
Electric Muscle Car Concept is Coming
Like we reported last year, Dodge is going electric, and the first taste of that will be an EV muscle car concept set to debut later this year. Car and Driver reports the electric car will use the “eMuscle” name, and it will be on sale in 2024.
To make up for the brand’s lively Hemi V-8 exhaust sounds that’ll be missing from the eMuscle car, Kuniskis and his team are developing a sound that Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares described as “shocking. ” Dodge’s electric muscle car will be able to make donuts and burnouts like the current Challenger, and earlier teasers for the vehicle suggest it’ll be all-wheel drive yet still capable of such juvenile tire destruction. This move is said to appeal to Millennial buyers, and although no one outside of Stellantis has heard this sound, we’re curious if it will be anything like the Hellcat.
