Dodge muscle cars set to bid adieu next year

Stellantis NV's brand Dodge is all set to pull the plugs off its muscle cars Challenger and Charger by the end of next year, announced the company. Dodge said it will offer seven low-volume versions of Charger and Challenger with heritage-influenced features at certain dealerships.

Dodge's Brand Chief Tim Kuniskis said in the final run, all the muscle cars will be allocated to dealers at once and hence, interested customers will be able to note dealers through whom they can get the car they want. Executives from the brand are betting that customers will see these models of Chargers and Challengers as collectable vehicles and may receive premium payments. “The thing I don't want is for some customer who wants one to order ten," Kuniskis was quoted as in a Reuters report.

Muscle cars such as the Challenger and Charger have been popular in the mainstream and are throwbacks to muscle cars from the 1960s and 1970s. These cars with their retro-styling and powertrains with either six or eight cylinders are on their way to going off the road as the regulations against carbon emissions tighten. Stellantis, last year, came last among key US automakers in corporate average fuel economy as per data by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Due to this, earlier this year the US regulators shared they would increase penalties if companies fail to hit CO2 emissions targets, a decision that could cost Stellantis as much as $572 million. The automaker has started its electrification process and also announced in the past that it will spend $2.8 billion to revamp its Brampton, Ont. factory. This company wants to assemble vehicles here that follows its electrification plans. This is also the factory that manufactures Dodge's Charger and Challenger models.