As cool as the Dodge Hornet looks, it isn’t exactly a memorable car. Essentially just a light rebadge of the equally forgettable Alfa Romeo Tonale, the Hornet was met with mostly lukewarm (if not outright negative) reviews online and faced lots of criticism from owners.
Despite those marks against it, the Hornet has risen in the ranks at Dodge to become the brand’s second-selling model since 2022. Sounds pretty impressive… until you realize Dodge only sells three cars (the Charger, the Durango, and the Hornet).
Well, that number is about to decrease by one, because the Hornet has officially been taken out of production for good.
The Hornet Has Actually Been Out Of Production For Some Time
Because the Hornet is just an Alfa Romeo underneath, it’s built in Italy on the same assembly line as the Tonale and shipped to the United States. That means, despite wearing a Dodge badge, it was still subject to import tariffs. The company decided in July to suspend production last year “assess the effects of U.S. tariff policies,” according to Automotive News.
This confirmation, then, is simply Dodge revealing it’s finished its assessment and decided it was no longer worth the trouble to front the 25% tariff to import such a slow-selling vehicle. Specifically, Dodge blamed the Hornet’s death on “policy environment.” Here’s the company’s full statement given to CarBuzz:
Production of the Dodge Hornet, built in Italy, has ended due to shifts in the policy environment. Dodge is committed to ensuring Dodge Hornet owners continue to receive customer support, service, warranty coverage and sustained parts supply. All Dodge Hornet models carry a 3-year/36,000-mile bumper-to-bumper and 5-year/60,000-mile powertrain warranty. Dodge Hornet R/T PHEV upgrades to 8-year/80,000-mile warranty on hybrid components and 8-year/100,000-mile warranty for battery.
Why Did The Hornet Fail?
The Hornet had a couple of things going for it. As I mentioned earlier, I think it looked pretty cool, despite being what my colleague Adrian called “the most lazy-assed badge engineering job on sale.” Its optional plug-in hybrid powertrain was also pretty neat, and it made almost 300 horsepower.
Neither of those attributes was enough to justify it to buyers, though. With a starting price of $31,990 including destination, the base 2025 Hornet was more expensive than the equivalent Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4, two vastly superior vehicles. The cheapest hybrid trim, meanwhile, started at an eye-watering $43,640.
I drove a base Hornet back in 2023, back when it was pretty new, and remember it having nice steering and solid acceleration. But I also remember it feeling cheap and barren inside. While the turbocharged 2.0-liter engine was just fine, the nine-speed automatic gearbox was subpar, delivering slow and sometimes clunky shifts, especially at slower speeds.
It didn’t take long for the buying public to realize the Hornet wasn’t exactly prime material. Hornets began to pile up on dealer lots across the country, to the point where, by the end of 2023, America had a gigantic 517-day supply sitting unsold. Shortly after, the incentives started rolling out.
By September 2024, dealers were slashing prices to get Hornets off their lots. Back then, my colleague Thomas was able to find base models listed for under $25,000 (or about $7,000 off MSRP). And by early last year, some buyers could even score Hornets for as low as $79 a month. Looking at Cars.com now, the cheapest new Hornet, a 2024 model that’s likely been sitting for a while, is listed for just $22,452.
The people who did buy Hornets weren’t much help, either. Back in December 2023, Thomas did a thorough examination of the Hornet forums and found a bucketload of people regretting their purchases, primarily due to reliability concerns. This comment from an owner is the one that stuck out the most to me:
I purchased my Dodge Hornet September 9, 2023 and it has already broken down. I had to have it towed Monday to the Dodge dealership and the mechanic just called me and said that there are 200 different codes going off. I am so upset and scared that I was sold a lemon. … This was the first vehicle I purchased on my own and now I am so disappointed. … My parents live in Michigan, are extremely worried about me, my safety, and the cost and inconvenience this is causing me.
Where Does This Leave Dodge And Its Parent Company?
With the Hornet dead, Dodge’s lineup is down to just two vehicles: The extremely old Durango SUV and the Charger, which can be had as an EV or with a straight-six gas engine. At $40,990, the V6-powered Durango GT is now the cheapest vehicle in the lineup (you can’t get into a Charger for less than $51,990).
If you’re shopping for a compact SUV and absolutely dying to have something from Stellantis, you’re not totally out of luck. While the Hornet may be dead, its sister car, the Tonale, has been confirmed for America in 2026. There’s also the outgoing Jeep Compass, which is still kicking in its current form after a decade.
If you’re willing to wait a bit, the third-gen Compass should be going on sale in America sometime this year (though it’ll be a bit more expensive than the $30,990 MSRP held by the current model).
Rest in peace, Hornet. I’m not sure I’ll miss you, but I’ll definitely remember you.
Top image: Dodge
Not enough coffee yet, so I thought there was a Hornet on Shitbox Showdown. First thought was “yeah, that makes sense.”
give it like two years and that’ll probably be a reality
Used Hornets are already selling in the mid teens. They’ll reach Altima status soon enough, but without the cockroach like mechanical durability.
How are they still in business?
Literally just the Wrangler, Cherokee, Pacifica, and Ram 1500’s they advertise to divorced men are the only things keeping them afloat. If people in the States still didn’t harbor an irrational resentment to “foreign” cars, they would currently be out of business.
The current RAM advertising is so jingoistic, one might assume it was from October 2001.
bringing back the HEMI? fine
bringing back the HEMI and putting a “Symbol of Protest” (their words, not mine) on the fender? beyond cringe
Complete joke of a company.
This is part of that New Math that people are talking about? Cut your lineup down to 0 vehicles, and get infinite sales?!?
CEO of Stellantis is trying to divide by zero again!
First Chrysler, now Dodge with such a small lineup. Where is the Neon, Journey, Stratus/Avenger, Caravan? Is Dodge the next Pontiac? Dodge should be the value vehicles lineup but they put all the eggs in one basket called Jeep.
“As cool as the Dodge Hornet looks…”
What? (Looks at byline) Oh.
Funny, I was just pointing out the other day that Dodge’s entire lineup on their website was 4 vehicles (because they went to the current Chrysler school of inflating your vehicle count, by listing the 2- and 4-door chargers separately).
Speaking of Chrysler, I see they still have 3 models listed, including the PHEV. Did they not get the memo, or are they that desperate to keep three as a minimum?
Remind me when Chryslers ‘peak’ was?
I was born in the 90s, so conclusively “before I was born”, and my vehicular enthusiasm didn’t pick up until roughly the last decade, so by then there was even less of their “peak” work around for me to admire.
They had their moments over the decades. I owned several 60’s through 80’s models and they where ‘dodgy’ in quality compared to most of the competition. I was born late 50’s and got into car ownership in the 70’s.
Owned two turn of the century models. The ’99 WJ 4.0 Laredo was tough as nails. The ’00 300M ate front tires. Both were corrosion prone. Both were comfortable and overall reliable.
My last Stelchryco was a 06 Magnum. It must have started rusting before leaving the plant. First troubles began with six months. Dumped it before our first anniversary. That was my last big three ownership experience.
$40,990 lowest priced Dodge. Durango or No Go.
Stick a fork in it, it’s done. Pour one out for Chrysler and Dodge. What is left of this company in the US? They can’t just sell Rams and Wranglers forever.
I’d respect them more if they whittled their lineup down to the two models that are somewhat competently made.
Don’t challenge them!! Amazon can probably keep Ram afloat with the ProMaster alone, never mind the general populace with the pickups.
But yeah, having not been around for Chrysler’s “peak,” I think they should simply take them and Dodge off life support. And Maserati. And…eh, never mind. You get the idea.
Ask your doctor if Stellantis is right for you.
problem is the Compass is a 2.0 8 speed auto, or possibly 2.4 multiair 4 cylinder with the 9 speed auto in the past, and it starts at 30K. $28,995 to be exact from the website. The pricing on the hornet makes little sense. Jeeps were made in Italy as well so the Tariff excuse does not work for me either. I hear the 2026 versions of the jeep will be made in Brampton Canada/Toluca Mexico and “America” but I am not sure if they just mean North America and Mexico/Canada is considered America now?
At any rate, they probably have already bit the big one on the hornet name and relative shape here, but if they make the new small truck to compete with Ranger and Canyon, then let a ladder frame version become a Dodge Ramcharger SUV. If they get really smart and bring over a Ram D50 trucklette, then rebody that into the next gen Dodge Hornet, but do not call it a Hornet, AMC is dead, let the names stay that way. Maybe Trail Duster if they really need a nostalgia name to go along with Maverick. Or maybe just Duster since Maverick worked and it was a car name as well.
Venezuela is considered America now so who knows
I mean, missed opportunity. Guess Maduro should have approved the Ram 1000 for local production. Lol
I don’t know how much cross shopping actually happened, probably not much, but if you were in a CDJR showroom just looking for a crossover and didn’t care about the sport factor (because most don’t), the Compass was the better option. Lower price but still had rebates, more room inside. Slower, but most buyers put thrift over swift and the Compass had better mileage.
I liked the way these things looked but boy were they trash. Bring back a cheap Journey, Dodge.
Justice for the Journey. Out of all the cars out there it was always one of them.
It was also the cheapest three-row vehicle you could buy for a long time, IIRC. Outright cancelling that thing was one of the stupidest things Dodge has ever done, which says an awful lot.
It was, and it wasn’t nice at all….but it was cheap, fairly reliable family transportation, which really doesn’t exist anymore. If you want a legit 3 row (not a cheater/tiny 3 row like the Santa Fe) you’re looking at $40,000+ now, or really even $45,000+.
It was also deeply crazy not to give it a redesign. Even after a decade on the market it was still selling upward of 100K units and that’s despite the car being saddled with very old tech like a 4-speed automatic.
Yes, the Journey was a reminder of Dodge’s bottom-feeding Mitsubishi days and I don’t blame them for wanting to be rid of mediocrity. But not filling the sales gap and hoping your performance buyers would carry the day was bold and foolish.
Reliability woes aside the Hornet needed to be Dodge’s answer to the Trax/Trailblazer/Envista/Encore or the Maverick. The price was simply not low enough to compete with those entries and the car was not otherwise compelling enough. It did have a good bit more performance and power than the other vehicles listed but people shopping in this segment generally don’t care and people that do care generally don’t shop in this segment. The Hornet was never going to succeed in its current form.
Having a lower selling but hotter version to attract people in for he bait and switch is fine, but even the best of the Hornets was still pretty tame on performance. 300HP from a NA V6 or Turbsky 2.0 is pretty par for the course these days. They could have done well with a compass price level NA 2.0 sporting 200 HP and a real Transmission. as I would shop that over any of the others using a basic CVT.
Yeah, the emphasis on performance while ignoring the metrics hybrid crossover buyers care about (cargo space, cabin space, efficiency, price) was a choice. They managed to make something that would never appeal to their muscle car audience and had no chance of pulling crossover buyers from other brands.
GM’s Korean captive compacts aren’t really comparable, and the Ford you’re looking for is the Escape. The Hornet really competed with the monster sellers: RAV4, CR-V, Rogue, Forester, Escape, CX-50, etc. The vehicles you listed lack hybrid, AWD, or both.
The pricing was a bit too high–at the time of its launch, it was VERY hard to find a plug-in hybrid crossover–but mostly the issue was that the car itself was half-baked. It was bad sign when the Hornet was losing comparison tests to a comparably equipped Escape, itself an aging design.
What will the 20somethings (who’s parents/grandparents force them to buy ‘Merican) buy now when they need a crossover, a Bronco Sport?
Trax, and that’s probably the right choice if the first requirement is ‘Merican and a decent choice even without that
Ah yes, the Chevy Trax that is made in *checks notes* South Korea because GM is incapable of making an affordable vehicle that doesn’t suck mondo ass but the Koreans can do it in their sleep.
(This means absolutely nothing to the BUY MERICAN folks, they can’t be bothered to do any research and even if they could a sizable chunk of them couldn’t even understand it because they read at a 5th grade level)
Then there’s Buick: 3 out of 4 models they sell are manufactured by either GM Korea, or SAIC-GM. The ONLY American manufactured Buick left is the Enclave.
You can tell they weren’t manufactured in the US too, as they’re nice looking cars
I mean, there’s like 19 Chevy crossovers…
Oh I forgot those exist as they are so not my thing .
Is this even still a thing? Considering the foreign investment in domestic production facilities since the early ’80s, I thought most this outmoded thought died out in the ’90s.
I still see signs saying foreign cars park in back at union halls and even at Ford plant parking lots. Hard to determine what is foreign made these days though. nothing is 100% American any more.
That’s insane. So many foreign-based manufacturers have factories here; what makes the vehicle itself foreign? The labor was American; that’s what’s important, right? Sheesh.
There is a better than even chance a Toyota/Honda has more domestic content than a Ford. I also agree that they kept the unions out of their plants through strategic site selection and overall fair labor practices from the start.
Because of Tariffs, not even the more recent ones, I agree Many JDM vehicles are made in America, and I mean the US, not even just North America. I do kind of wonder if the Chinese made Buicks get a pass because of lack of knowledge?
It is in the rural upper midwest from WI through the Dakotas in my experience. We were nearly disowned by my wife’s ND family when we bought a new 99 Hyundai Accent.
Made in Mexico.
CHevy Traverse is Michigan built using parts from all over. Ford had the Escape and Edge built in the US, but I think they are both discontinued for 2026.
Hyundai EV9 is assembled in the US. Though the name plate would likely cause a heart attack for a boomer.
I would say a real bronco with the 7 speed manual would the best suggestion, just tell them is is a Sport and they will never know.
The people I am teasing cannot drive a manual.
Given the choice I’d take the Hyundai over the Bronco, and I don’t need or want an EV. I’m a boomer, but I’ve owned several Ford products over the years which influences my choice.
I can understand the concern. 2.7 Nanos dropping valves in the Bronco and concerns about the 2.3 ecoboost floating pistons longevity definitely have me spooked on the Bronco.
Used Journey or Nitro?
Funny, my family members in that postion have had a few used Journeys
Occasionally when I need to feel better about my life decisions, I head over to Hornet owner social media. It’s bad, man…I legitimately feel terrible for anyone who purchased one. Seems they are miserably unreliable, especially the hybrids. Several new posts per per group per day with pics of brand new Hornets on flatbeds.
In my holiday travels I saw no less than 3 Hornets dead on the side of the road between Philly and New Haven…keep in mind virtually brand new cars.
And somehow the only thing that seems worse is the 4xes, and both are massively overpriced in their segment (at least to start, before the dealers get desperate…)
I have a commute on a rural, 2-lane highway and I often see dead vehicles on the side of the mountain passes. I would say 99% of the time they are cars and trucks from the 80s and 90s, except I saw a Hornet with paper tags sitting on the side of the road last week. I saw it in town on a flatbed presumably headed to the local dealership the next day. I could hardly say I was surprised.
Yay!
This is the first car cancellation where I only got to see a total of ONE on the streets, and zero parked in front of dealers.
I mean, I’m sure they were parked in front of dealers, but they were behind the Rams and Wranglers, so you couldn’t see them. That seem like a nice real-life analogy for how this car was sold.
The Youtube reviews on the first ones on the lot really did not help the case here. I think the writing was on the wall before they came in any qty and of course max profits were still coming from Chargers/Challengers and Big Trucks at the time.
High priced to start AND hideously unreliable?
Can’t imagine why they didn’t sell. I mean, who wants a boring ol’ CR-V, RAV-4, or CX-5 that just…works, when you can have an EXCITING Dodge Hornet? Oh, did I forget to mention that much of the “excitement” is wondering what error messages your Hornet will give you today?
The mismanagement and decline of the “traditional” Chrysler brands since 1998 has been extremely sad to see.
This was my thought. Chrysler now makes 1 car, Dodge is down to two, Jeep essentially makes 3 (Cherokee, Wrangler [I include Gladiator as a big long Wrangler], Wagoneer) and Ram, nee Dodge, makes basically 1 in 45 different trim levels. All of those brands have history and potential and it’s being squandered by management who understands neither.
I vote they just sell off the American brands to a company that might appreciate them. Hyundai or something.
Counterpoint: Merge the whole company with Volkswagen.
MORE BRANDS! MORE EUROPEAN GOVERNMENTS!!
Dodge, Ram, Chrysler don’t need no Europeans to mismanage the company into near and full bankruptcy how many times now?
I think you are underselling Jeep a little bit. Add Compass (which is getting a new gen soon) and Wagoneer S for the U.S. Overseas: Renegade, Avenger, Commander/Meridian. The Gladiator is different enough with its gigantic wheelbase to warrant its own model name but you can play the same game with many other automakers and boil them all down to 3 or 4 platforms the make up all the products.
But, yes, Jeep is probably the only Stellantis brand with a diversified, competitive lineup that makes some sort of sense.
Hey, we’re Dodge!
We got the..
Stop by your local Dodge dealer today!
It’s bad.
It really seems like if Sergio had been able to spin off Ram and Jeep that there would be no more Chrysler or Dodge by now.
Since ‘Chrysler’ is no longer officially in the current name of the holding company, the quiet death of the Chrysler division wouldn’t even really make waves or sow confusion.
Admittedly, Dodge still has a product that is associated with the company’s history and a twinge of vigour, so killing it is probably a non-starter at this point.
By comparison, Plymouth was downright sprightly when it got the axe.
What’s that old SUV have to offer?
A V8 FUCK YOU
That’s been the only selling point for a quarter century?
WE GAVE MORE TRIMS A V8 THIS TIME, FUCK YOU IT’S NEW YOU STUPID DUMB IDIOT
Is it reliable?
IT’S GOT A V8 FUCK YOU
Is the interior nice?
FUCK YOU I CAN’T HEAR YOU OVER THE HEMI
Uhhhhhh
FUCK YOU IT’S YOURS FOR $999 A MONTH
….what are the terms?
FUCK YOU IT HAS A V8 WHO CARES YOU CAN MANAGE THE PAYMENT
(84 months at 17.99% APR)
Exactly.
Your timeframe is esp jarring, as I’m now recalling just how with it Chrysler was getting in the 90s. A solid line up across the divisions, some serious, game-changing innovation, and they even were making a semi open-wheeled car to sell to everyday buyers!
Seemed like they were “coming back” in the aughts. Sure, Diamler was not kind to them, but:
PT Cruiser sold great (2001)the LX platform cars were a solid choice and sold well (2005)The 4th gen Dodge Ram was a huge upgrade and also sold well (2000)
Since then, they did pretty well with the LD but let it grow way too long in tooth and the LB replacement has been a joke. The 4th gen Ram is really the only “new” large success since then. I guess the Pacifica has been pretty good, but it’s also getting old and they have never bothered to fix the reliability issues with the PHEV version.
Jeep was somewhat isolated from these issues for the most part, but that’s been changing over the last 5 years. That’s not to say Jeep hasn’t released some shitty vehicles, they have, they’ve just also have had some good ones to carry the brand.
Yeah, this is fair context; I still think Daimler was a net bad thing for the company, but the decline was certainly not terminal in those years.
Daimler’s big sin was cheapening and decontenting the traditionaly plush and comfy Chrysler interiors. Apparently only Mercedes could have anything NOT made of hard brittle plastic. The chassis, suspension, drivetrains were generally quite good.
TIL the cheap feeling JK was a DaimlerChrysler brainchild and not Cerberus
I’m assigning the blame where it is due. I loved my early build WJ, but saw steady decontenting of the newer ones. I would never have bought a WK. Cerberus only compounded the existing mess.
Look at the JK, and interior shape forms. This was all ’90s Chrysler design. It was released in the Daimler era, but I doubt there is much Daimler in it other than the cheapening.
They Let Jeep stray way to far from it’s Jeepness and forgot about the rest. Chrysler should have had the Grand Cherokee and the lux needed to be turned up on the halo versions. Dodge Needed the Compass, and the performance side need to be turned up on the halo versions.
I agree, but they also gave Jeep some of the most successful Jeeps they’ve ever made; the JK and WK.
’90s Chrysler may have been the most adventurous, risk taking automaker in the world. The made overall well designed product (that also had maddening quirks). The “merger of equals” was the beginning of the end.
Twenty years ago I owned a ’99 WJ Grand Cherokee and a ’00 300M. I rented a new ’06 300 – I liked the driving dynamics but was horrified by the interior. The next gen ’05 Grand Cherokee was also a downgrade.
They were the most adventurous, risk taking automaker, checks notes, in the 30’s through 90’s. Then management got involved.
Dodge will not be killed off, It will slowly bleed to death from self inflicted wounds.
I fear at this point it would be a mercy killing.
Dodge needs a new Neon
Not as a small car though. They need to copy Neon’s success and apply it to CUVs if they want to sell any volume.
Because Kia, Hyundai, Toyota and Honda can’t manage to sell their smaller cars?
The sell them, but not at near the quantities of the CUV.
Why aim for a smaller market segment? It’s a heck of a lot easier to carve out a decent sized slice of pie when the pie you are starting with is drastically larger.
“Policy environment” is an interesting way to say “being a total sack of crap, but like a really cheap sack that would fall apart if you tried to touch it. Also, the sack is on fire and the fire can only temporarily be put out by pouring imported bottles of San Pellegrino on it.”
I am curious about two things:
That was my imediate thought, for how many years are we going to see this on the end of year sales report. I’m pretty sure that there were still new Darts sold in 2025 so my bet is going to be 2035 for the Hornet.
Definitely into the 2030s. are there odds on polymarket yet?
I think people need to know the Hornet existed in any way, shape or form before the masses can make bets such as these.
I got a high trim Dodge Hornet as a loaner from a Ford dealership while my Kia was getting worked on. It felt like a tall hot hatch. It was fast, had a really nice interior, and generally was a pleasant, zippy car. Never could figure out how to turn off adaptive cruise, which was really frustrating on the interstate. It came in that nice shade of metallic blue and looked really quite nice. Would I own one? no. Am I sad to see them go? no. Did it provide me a mildly interesting couple of hours on a random Monday 18 months ago? Yes. And for that I’ll be forever grateful.
Also, this article compares the Hornet to the Rav4 and CRV, that seems like the wrong comparison. The Hornet felt smaller to me than those other vehicles, closer to a Ford Escape size.
That is quite the mess of dealers involved in a loaner. What else does that dealer group own?
What the hell is going on here?
I mean, I’m used to seeing dealerships all under the same name. “Smith Ford”, “Smith Toyota”, etc. all within a few miles of each other. Doesn’t seem impossible to me.
Several “mega dealers” in my region have multiple brands in the same multi-acre complex. I can shop for a Ford, walk 30 yards and be in a Jeep/Ram showroom. Used, service, and autobody all have their own sections of the complex.
“I got a high trim Dodge Hornet as a loaner from a Ford dealership while my Kia was getting worked on.”
This sentence is more amusing to me than it should be.
The RAV4 AND CR-V are in the exact same size segment as the Escape by the way (compact crossover), while the Compass is supposed to be more of a subcompact afaik.
I have no idea how you screw up an entry this badly in such a large segment
*Side eye from Carlos Tavares
…pictured above..
Literally all they needed to do was build a new Journey.
When it comes to Dodge, isn’t 2nd best selling also the 2nd worst selling?
Being one of only 3 models on sale under this brand currently yes it does.