Yahoo Autos 2023 Dodge Hornet Is Dawn of Brand's 'Electrified Performance' Era
The 2023 Dodge Hornet is a new subcompact SUV with a performance-focused, plug-in-hybrid model.
There's also a gas-only Hornet that starts around $30,000, and it's offered with similar features and options.
With Dodge about to enter a new "electrifed performance" era, the Hornet leads the way when the PHEV hits dealers next spring starting around $40,000.
A new era is dawning at Dodge. For at least the past decade, the brand's survival has largely relied on retro-themed, V-8–powered hits like the Charger and Challenger. Hell, it even offered a 710-hp Durango with an estimated 13 mpg combined. While the Hellcat SUV is back for 2023, along with myriad special editions of the muscle-car duo, Dodge has declared last call. The decision comes as the brand takes a hard left towards an electrified future, one that begins with the new 2023 Dodge Hornet.
Dodge's New Direction
The Hornet is a subcompact SUV that shares a platform and other parts with the Alfa Romeo Tonale. It measures 178 inches long, up to 63.8 inches tall, and rides on a 103.8-inch wheelbase. It's also the first entirely new model that Dodge has introduced since the ill-fated Dart compact sedan, which only lasted from 2012 to 2016. The Hornet represents the company's first plug-in-hybrid model, too, but rather than focus on fuel efficiency, Dodge is boasting about the new hybrid's performance. CEO Tim Kuniskis even billed the Hornet as the "first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge."
Before you worry about all of Dodge's future performance models being hybrid crossovers, don't forget that the company plans to unveil a concept version of its electric muscle car this week, too. So it's not leaving its roots entirely. Plus, the 2023 Hornet actually has some legitimate performance attributes, and they're not limited to the plug-in-hybrid model. There's also a base nonhybrid model with a turbocharged gas engine, and it's offered with many of the same features and options as the PHEV.
The standard shared bits from the Alfa include a fully independent suspension, Koni dampers, and torque-vectoring all-wheel drive. The PHEV comes standard with Brembo four-piston, fixed front calipers, which are also available on the base model. Likewise, every Hornet is available with the Track Pack, which includes 20-inch wheels, upgraded dampers, and unique styling bits.
