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
Given Dodge’s traditionally macho-style of marketing, they should’ve skipped Hornet and instead just tweaked its original name:
“The Toenail, by Alpha-roMale”
First Dart, then Hornet…
Hopefully Jeep Recon and next Compass will be viable launches.
I had to look that up. Seriously. I didn’t believe you. Woof.
There’s a little too much Hornet-apologist attitude in this article. Most Stellantis brands are now sad shells of their former selves. Dodge and Chrysler are just sad.
Yeah, really – what was the tariff situation like in late 2023, when Stellantis had a 517 day supply of Hornets mouldering in holding lots? It was a dud from day one, an embarrassing failure right in the heart of what should be one of the most lucrative product segments. A mainstream, lower to medium price brand like Dodge failing to sell a small crossover today is as bad as failing to sell a full-size V8 family sedan in the mid 1950s. Its not something you should allow to happen
I don’t believe you, unless someday you write a “Most Disastrous Car Launches Ever, Stellantis Edition” (because Stellantis could clearly fill an entire article just with theirs). That’s literally the only reason anyone would remember this thing.
The Dodge Hornet has a reputation for being crap. That is because it is crap.
Are we starting a pool on how long before the govt bails Chrysler out (for the what 3rd time??)
What does that even mean now that they are just one minivan pretending to be 3 and owned by Stellantis?
Eh I guess I mean stellantis, easy for me to see the govt offering to bailout the american brands that used to comprise chrysler if Stellantis agreed to spin them off into something closer to the old Chrysler again.
Yeah I realize that these brands can come and go and merge and all that but at the end of the day, the giant factories (and their work forces) stay the same. In that sense yeah, I can see the government seeing the value in keeping them from shutting down. I have no idea if that would make economic sense, but politically it could happen.
I don’t know what our obligations would be to a company incorporated in the Netherlands, effectively based in the UK, majority owned by French and Italian shareholders that has an increasingly small presence in the US
Somehow I have still only seen 1 Hornet on the roads around me. Despite living in the suburbs of Chicago, with lots and lots of traffic, I have seen 1. Those pieces of junk are more elusive than the new Z, of which I have now seen 2!
I’ve never seen one in Chicago personally, however I did see one for the first time the day after Christmas when visiting family in SC. (I’ve also only seen one of the new Z’s once)