Dodge Hornet and Alfa Romeo Tonale Recalled for Incorrect Weight Capacity on Label

Indeed, the affected population bears 17-character VINs beginning with ZA. Vehicles manufactured in the Italian Republic feature VIN that start with two-letter combinations ranging from ZA to ZU. This being said, why does incorrect weight capacity on a label require a safety recall? That's because of a certain safety standard (FMVSS 110/CMVSS 110).

Few owners are prone to overloading the vehicle, thus increasing the risk of a crash. That's not the case with truck-based SUVs (think Chevrolet Suburban and Infiniti QX80) and pickup trucks, with an emphasis on heavy-duty chassis cabs (think Ram 5500 and Ford F-550). In any case, failure to comply with the requirements of the aforementioned federal motor vehicle safety standard is what prompted FCA US LLC and FCA Canada Inc. to recall the Hornet and its brother.

Considering that Alfa Romeo revealed the Tonale first (February 2022 as opposed to August 2022 for the Hornet), make that Tonale and its brother. The remedy is pretty obvious, with dealers instructed to add an overlay label to the tire placard information. Owners will be informed via first-class mail no later than April 24. The Auburn Hills-based automaker reports that Stellantis Europe S.p.A. acknowledged the noncompliance condition on February 23, and four days later, the European organization decided to conduct a safety recall of the affected vehicles.

Stellantis became a thing in January 2021 with the merger of Groupe PSA and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. The French partner's three-letter acronym stands for Peugeot Societe Anonyme. Back in 1976, fellow automaker Citroen was merged with Peugeot. Why? Because Citroen bled money left and right in the 1970s, especially after taking over Adolfo Orsi's Maserati back in 1968.

Groupe PSA is a much larger automaker today, having purchased Opel and Vauxhall from General Motors in 2017. The merger with Fiat Chrysler first came to light in October 2018. A year later, the automakers agreed to a $50 billion merger. Headquartered in Amsterdam because the Netherlands is a bit of a tax haven, Stellantis is the third-largest automaker in the world by revenue.

As expected, in-group synergies are key to growing said revenue. The Dodge Hornet and Alfa Romeo Tonale may have been revealed in 2022, but under the skin, their platform and oily bits are much older. The platform, for example, is the FCA Small Wide 4x4 LWB introduced by the Compass in 2017. Said platform is derived from the Small Wide 4x4 of the Jeep Renegade and Fiat 500X. Both rolled out in 2014. That's not all, though. Going deeper down the rabbit hole, the Small Wide can trace its roots back to the SCCS of the Fiat Grande Punto from 2005.

Planned with two powertrains, the Alfa Romeo Tonale ultimately reached North American soil as a plug-in hybrid exclusively. The Hornet comes in two flavors, with GT standing for 2.0-liter turbo and R/T meaning 1.3-liter turbo plug-in hybrid. Even though all-wheel drive isn't necessary in most day-to-day scenarios, AWD is standard in the Hornet.

Pricing kicks off at $31,400 for the 268-horsepower GT, whereas the 288-horsepower R/T is ten grand more. How does the Alfa Romeo Tonale compare to the latter? Simply put, you have to pay $2,445 more for three fewer horses and slightly better styling.