Next Dodge Challenger and Charger could continue on current platform
The Dodge Charger sedan and its Challenger coupe sibling continue to sell despite an aging platform that traces its roots to a Mercedes E-Class architecture from the 1990s.
Khodrocar - The platform for each car has been updated over the years, but it hasn't been significantly changed on the Challenger since it came out in 2008 and on the Charger since an update in 2011.
That has left fans of the all-so-American muscle cars to wonder when these cars will get a new platform. Rumors that the next generation of each will use a version of the platform that underpins the Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan, called Giorgio. At the investor's conference in Italy on Friday, CEO Sergio Marchionne effectively said not so fast.
"We may not necessarily have to go as far as the Giorgio architecture for Dodge as long as we are willing to commit to a significant upgrade to the current architecture to make it competitive. That's something that's already started," the sweatered CEO said.
"Certainly by the time we finish with that architecture, you will not recognize its origins. We may maintain its bare-bones structure," Marchionne continued, noting that engineers would go from there to improve the platform.
Why not the sporty, rear-drive-based platform from Giulia?
"The problem with Giorgio is from size and capability standpoint it reflects much more of a European performance requirement than it does the American heritage of Dodge," Marchionne noted. That heritage of course is massive Hemi V-8 engines, which might be hard to squeeze into the smaller Giorgio's platform, regardless of it being stretched.
Marchionne didn't share timing on the update for either car, but did indicate that the Chrysler 300, which is based on the same architecture, may not return.
That has left fans of the all-so-American muscle cars to wonder when these cars will get a new platform. Rumors that the next generation of each will use a version of the platform that underpins the Alfa Romeo Giulia sedan, called Giorgio. At the investor's conference in Italy on Friday, CEO Sergio Marchionne effectively said not so fast.
"We may not necessarily have to go as far as the Giorgio architecture for Dodge as long as we are willing to commit to a significant upgrade to the current architecture to make it competitive. That's something that's already started," the sweatered CEO said.
"Certainly by the time we finish with that architecture, you will not recognize its origins. We may maintain its bare-bones structure," Marchionne continued, noting that engineers would go from there to improve the platform.
Why not the sporty, rear-drive-based platform from Giulia?
"The problem with Giorgio is from size and capability standpoint it reflects much more of a European performance requirement than it does the American heritage of Dodge," Marchionne noted. That heritage of course is massive Hemi V-8 engines, which might be hard to squeeze into the smaller Giorgio's platform, regardless of it being stretched.
Marchionne didn't share timing on the update for either car, but did indicate that the Chrysler 300, which is based on the same architecture, may not return.
Source: Motor Authority
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