Stellantis, the owner of no less than 14 automotive brands, is a beacon of change these days. That's also visible across the board, from Italy to America.
Formed in early 2021 through the merger of equals between the French PSA Group and Italian–American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), the new multinational corporation is currently the fourth-largest carmaker by sales behind Toyota, VW AG, and Hyundai Motor Group. But it might soar even higher if it plays all of its cards right.
Stellantis has no less than 14 brands under its belt, from the forgotten Italians at Lancia to the beloved American brand Dodge. Speaking of the latter, they are a beacon of change alongside Ram Trucks across the North American region. That's because they now have a base model (Hornet) that's also available as a plug-in hybrid, outgoing Charger and Challenger pony/muscle cars that will adopt the EV lifestyle, as well as a mid-size three-row crossover SUV that can also boast a 710-hp supercharged Hemi V8 under the hood.
The wind of change is strong at Dodge and Ram, though, as the brands are slowly but steadily abandoning the way of the Hemi V8 – Ram just announced the 2025 model year for the 1500 series, and that one is coming with V6, SSTs (straight-six turbo), range-extended, and full EV powertrains. On the other hand, Dodge will give up the current Charger and Challenger lifestyle in favor of Banshee EV prowess, and if the rumor mill is correct, the two-door next-gen Charger will also boast Hurricane mills under the hood.
Interestingly, a lot of people are also very fond of the big Durango family crossover. The nameplate was launched in 1998 as a rugged truck-based SUV, but the arrival of the third generation in 2010 sent the sturdy ethos into retirement to make way for a mid-size crossover SUV lifestyle. Dodge has kept this iteration into production with lots of incremental updates, and now you can buy the 2023 Durango from $40,640 with 4x2 or 4x4 transmissions as well as regular and SRT versions alongside the trim levels.
However, Dodge can't just keep the Durango indefinitely into production, and the rumor mill is increasingly hopeful that a fourth generation will arrive soon, for the 2026 or 2027 model year to take over. Naturally, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has caught wind of these desires and decided to make them true, at least unofficially. For example, the Halo oto channel on YouTube provides fresh automotive info corroborated with their virtual designs; now, there are some CGI ideas about the next Durango.
On this occasion, the resident pixel master didn't bother dreaming something too fancy – just a three-row crossover with big 'DODGE' letters on the grille and the same allure as the current models. The CGI modifications are subtle and not really worthy of calling them all-new generation material – more like we are dealing with a hypothetical facelift rather than anything else. So, do you like it or not?
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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