Key Points
- Dodge confirms the Hellcat package will end by 2024
- Manufacturer set to reveal its first electric vehicle next year
- Dodge CEO has received death threats over move to EVs
American manufacturer Dodge has confirmed it will end production of its Charger and Challenger Hellcat variants by 2024 as the company moves towards electrification.
The high-power variant of the four-door sedan and two-door muscle car has been in service since 2015, launching from Dodge's skunkworks division SRT – with 527kW and 881Nm on tap from a 6.2-litre, supercharged Hemi V8.
In an interview with Motortrend, Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis outlined the manufacturer's intention to adopt electrification in the future, a decision which will come at the cost of its flagship V8 models.
Claiming he's received death threats over his company's decision, Kuniskis has said Dodge will go all-out to farewell the Hellcat over the next two years.
"For 24 months we are feeding the beast," Kuniskis told Motortrend.
"I'm juggling knives, because I've gotta keep two different huge factions happy and at some point [they] will converge. The problem is no one knows when. My job is to provide confidence, over the next 24 months, that we're gonna do this.
"These cars that you know today will go out of production by the time we get to 2024."
The 2024 date is significant, as Dodge aims to introduce an electric muscle car to the market in the same year – having already teased the concept in August before it breaks cover next year.
Parent company Stellantis has previously announced its plans for all of its brands to move to more unified electric vehicle platforms, as a majority of its European manufacturers look to go all-electric by 2030 in line with local regulations.
It's a time for rejuvenation within Stellantis, as the conglomerate has given each of its 14 brands a 10-year stay of execution, allowing them to sort out their respective business models before facing the chopping block.
For Dodge, this means diversifying, given it currently sells just three models in the United States (the Charger, Challenger and Durango SUV) – something it will be looking to change when its electric muscle car is revealed.
Just last week, fellow Stellantis and former FCA brand Chrysler announced it was pulling out of the Australian market, having endured dwindling sales of its sole remaining model, the 300.
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