Dodge Hornet to Debut in August 2022

About a year ago, July 2021, muscle car automaker Dodge shared its new plans to meet the market shift towards alternative fuel vehicles. It sounds like a dream, and a little impossible, but Dodge will finally release all-electric versions of its current lineup, as well as all-new models entirely. With a fancy new logo, as the last muscle car automaker currently active in the high-performance market, Dodge is already turning heads about how it’s going to create the brand’s first high-performance all-electric muscle car. Before then, hybrid models will be greasing the wheels.

Following the announcement of eMuscle, Dodge talked about its new “Fratzog” logo. The word is made up, but became popular when Dodge used it from 1962 through 1976. In the shape of a three-pointed star, the logo glows red with LED lights and has been named the official emblem of the eMuscle lineup. We wonder which model will be the first to wear the new emblem. Last year, in September 2021, Dodge shared some of its upcoming green models. Alongside the unnamed upcoming eMuscle model was the Dodge Durango Plug-in Hybrid. Before we get the first official eMuscle model in 2024, the popular Dodge SUV was also supposed to make a splash as a PHEV (plug-in hybrid electric vehicle).

Talk about the Durango Plug-in has died down, but that hasn’t stopped Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis from discussing upcoming models. If not the Durango Plug-in, then a new plug-in hybrid SUV by Dodge is entering the lineup in 2023. Said to debut this year, Kuniskis claims that the new Dodge Hornet will debut in August at the Woodward Dream Cruise. An entry for Dodge to re-enter the small crossover market, the Hornet will offer an internal combustion model alongside the plug-in hybrid powertrain, so it could very well be the first model to wear the Fratzog logo.

Spied in the streets of Los Angeles, California, the rumors about the Dodge Hornet seem to be true. Sharing a platform with the Alfa Romeo Tonale compact SUV, both are being produced at the Stellantis factory in Pomigliano, Italy. If following the same formula of the Tonale, consumers can expect the Hornet to have a 1.3-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine paired with an electric motor (plus a large battery) making up the powertrain. On the Tonale, this adds up to a total of 272 horsepower. With earlier plans to release the first Dodge PHEV in 2022, and sales starting in 2023, the reveal of the Dodge Hornet is holding heavy weight for what could be a red herring to stir up the internet.

“Every single thing we’re doing is like in Jell-O right now, because it’s so hard to plan anything,” – Kuniskis, according to The Detroit News

Based on spy shots, the Hornet shares many similarities to the Tonale, however the front fascia shares the slim horizontal grille of the Dodge Charger, a new LED signature, small vertical intakes and a large rectangular lower grille – all classic Dodge style cues. The side profile and rear fascia must still be under construction, otherwise, they will be hard to differentiate from the Tonale, save for a slimmer rear bumper. If everything goes well, there should be a lot more news about this sudden compact SUV that popped up.

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Photo Source/Copyright: Dodge