Dodge used to have a robust lineup. For two decades, Charger and Challenger sports cars were on sale alongside the Durango, a family-sized sport utility vehcile (SUV). For a while it sold the Nitro and Journey SUVs; Avenger, Caliber and Dart sedans; Caravan minivan and Magnum wagon.
Today, the Dodge lineup has been cut to just three models: Hornet (a two-row SUV), the aging Durango and the Charger muscle car. The automaker's new version of the Charger, with either powerful six-cylinder engines or in battery-electric vehicle (BEV) form, will be reaching dealerships shortly.
It's a controversial generational changeover. Reddit forums, YouTube and social media are full of people voicing their displeasure at the changes.
"When I look at the landscape, I see it as evolutionary, not revolutionary. You know, we spent 10 years building Dodge into this: America's performance brand. We started back in 2012-2013, known as America's value brand. We were selling Journeys and Caravans and Avengers, and it's taken 10 years to evolve into everything that we know today," Matt McAlear, Dodge's new CEO, told Newsweek.
He sees the company's past Viper, Demon, Scat Pack and Hellcat models as "stepping stones for the future." With the new models, McAlear said that the company is, "staying core to our DMA, core to who we are, core to what has got us here."
Part of what got the company to its enthusiast-lauded status is its powerful internal combustion engines (ICE). "We're not stepping away from ICE technology. We're just evolving to different performance, but it's all about performance. Every single powertrain that's coming outperforms [the] powertrain it replaces," he said.
McAlear would know. He has gotten a good amount of time behind the wheel in his short tenure as CEO, having assumed the role six months ago. He was previously the head of Dodge Brand Sales Operations.
"If you look at today's Scat Pack that we're just getting ready to launch, and you compare that to the last generation Charger/Challenger... this car blows that car out of the water. Today's Scat Pack outperforms yesterday's Hellcat Red Eye from a zero to 60 [mph] standpoint, from a capability standpoint, from a safety standpoint, from comfort and spaciousness, from cargo capacity," he said.
The proof is in the pudding, McAlear relayed. He has seen "the smiles on people's faces" when he shows up driving one of the new cars at the Home Depot parking for Cars and Coffee. "Everywhere I go, the reaction is incredible. And once they see it, once they hear it, once they kind of sit in they start getting it, and it's just, it just takes time," he said.
McAlear acknowledged that not everyone is or will be happy with the new direction of the brand's cars saying, "People are always gonna push back. When you bring something new and different, it's natural, right? We get comfortable with what we love, right?"
"That's the future. We're just getting started. It's revolutionary in the sense that it's new powertrain, but it's evolution in the sense that it's just a new way of performance," he said. "When I look at the future, I'm excited."
Dodge used to have a robust lineup. For two decades, Charger and Challenger sports cars were on sale alongside the Durango, a family-sized sport utility vehcile (SUV). For a while it sold the Nitro and Journey SUVs; Avenger, Caliber and Dart sedans; Caravan minivan and Magnum wagon.
Today, the Dodge lineup has been cut to just two models: Hornet (a two-row SUV) and a car, Charger. The automaker's new version of the Charger, with either powerful six-cylinder engines or in battery-electric vehicle (BEV) form, will be reaching dealerships shortly.
It's a controversial generational changeover. Reddit forums, YouTube and social media are full of people voicing their displeasure at the design and engineering evolution.
"When I look at the landscape, I see it as evolutionary, not revolutionary. You know, we spent 10 years building Dodge into this: America's performance brand. We started back in 2012-2013, known as America's value brand. We were selling Journeys and Caravans and Avengers, and it's taken 10 years to evolve into everything that we know today," Matt McAlear, Dodge's new CEO, told Newsweek.
He sees the company's past Viper, Demon, Scat Pack and Hellcat models as "stepping stones for the future." With the new models, McAlear said that the company is, "staying core to our DNA, core to who we are, core to what has got us here."
Part of what got the company to its enthusiast-lauded status is its powerful internal combustion engines [ICE]. "We're not stepping away from ICE technology. We're just evolving to different performance, but it's all about performance. Every single powertrain that's coming outperforms [the] powertrain it replaces," he said.
McAlear would know. He has gotten a good amount of time behind the wheel in his short tenure as CEO, having assumed the role six months ago. He was previously the head of Dodge Brand Sales Operations.
"If you look at today's Scat Pack that we're just getting ready to launch, and you compare that to the last generation Charger/Challenger... this car blows that car out of the water. Today's Scat Pack outperforms yesterday's Hellcat Red Eye from a zero to 60 [mph] standpoint, from a capability standpoint, from a safety standpoint, from comfort and spaciousness, from cargo capacity," he said.
The proof of concept is in the pudding, McAlear relayed. He has seen "the smiles on people's faces" when he shows up driving one of the new cars at the Home Depot parking for Cars and Coffee. "Everywhere I go, the reaction is incredible. And once they see it, once they hear it, once they kind of sit in they start getting it, and it's just, it just takes time," he said.
McAlear acknowledged that not everyone is or will be happy with the new direction of the brand's cars saying, "People are always gonna push back. When you bring something new and different, it's natural, right? We get comfortable with what we love, right?"
But that doesn't mean that Dodge is letting up on the accelerator. "That's the future. We're just getting started. It's revolutionary in the sense that it's new powertrain, but it's evolution in the sense that it's just a new way of performance," he said. "When I look at the future, I'm excited."
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