Dodge is on its way to a massive EV transition, and even the company's corner office head honchos admit they face an uphill battle when trying to convince former Hemi V8 fans and buyers to go electric or downsize to 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six turbo mills.
But the eighth generation Dodge Charger – in all-electric Daytona and ICE-powered Sixpack form – is here to stay and will replace both the previous iteration of the Charger nameplate as well as the Challenger sibling with classic two-door fastback coupe and the novel four-door sedan body styles. That means the US brand will shrink down its lineup to just three model lines – Hornet, Charger, and Durango.
The latter is also perched to receive an all-new generation for the 2025 or 2026 model year as the company has already started the 'Last Call' for its Hemi V8-equipped variants. If all goes according to plan, the mid-size crossover SUV will most likely adopt all-electric powertrains and the 3.0-liter Hurricane as a downsized ICE alternative.
But how about the base Hornet? Well, the compact crossover SUV was introduced in August 2022 for Canada and the United States to mark the first time Dodge returns to the segment after killing off the Jeep Liberty-based Dodge Nitro in 2011. Oddly enough, this rebadged Alfa Romeo Tonale is being sold alongside the Italian sibling in the region – albeit with slight design tweaks, different specifications, and lower MSRPs.
It starts from $31,400 with the GT trim and 2.0-liter Hurricane inline-four mill packing 268 hp and 295 lb-ft of torque hooked to a nine-speed automatic transmission or $41,400 if you want the R/T equipped with the 1.3-liter plug-in hybrid powertrain that's good for 288 hp and 32 electric miles on a charge. Meanwhile, the 2024 Alfa Romeo Tonale kicks off at $43,845 with the PHEV setup and standard AWD.
Some would say the pricing difference alone is enough to set the two apart from each other, but a lot of Dodge fans might have a problem with the styling, nonetheless, as the US-only model gets too subtle tweaks, especially on the sides and at the rear. No worries, though, as the imaginative realm of digital car content creators loves to come to the rescue and help out with this conundrum.
More precisely, Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, has taken up the task of CGI-revealing an early Hornet redesign for the 2025 model year – which is quite fast, even for a facelift since the Tonale and Hornet were introduced to the North American automotive markets for the 2023 model year.
Nevertheless, the pixel master has decided to further set the Dodge Hornet apart from its Alfa Romeo Tonale platform sibling with a few quick CGI brush strokes – the front is actually inspired by the Ram 1500 REV all-electric full-size pickup truck for the lighting signature, while the rear gets larger LED clusters for a more rugged appearance compared to the stylish Italian CUV.
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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