A Lower Starting Point for Performance?
A report from The Drive says Dodge CEO Matt McAlear isn’t shutting the door on a new sports model priced under $30,000. At that kind of money, it would come in below every budget-friendly sports car on the U.S. market right now, including the Mazda MX-5 Miata and the Toyota GR86.
Price is one thing, but the bigger question might be whether there’s actually a crowd ready to buy it. According to McAlear, at least, the answer is yes. He told the publication, “There’s a market for affordability in something that nobody else is offering and separates us from the pack.” While he did say the brand owes its dealers and customers cars they can actually afford, he didn’t confirm or deny that any project like that is currently in the works.
The most affordable performance model Dodge sells right now is the Charger with a 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six making 420 horsepower, starting at $49,995 (not counting destination fees). That’s a long way from the Ford Mustang, where the more budget-friendly EcoBoost versions kick off at $32,640.
Both the Mazda MX-5 Miata and Toyota GR86 start at a little over $30,000, but they fill pretty specific niches in a market where most buyers are going for crossovers and SUVs. That might be something Dodge is thinking about, though there’s no real way to know for sure. What McAlear did bring up, though, is the need for more back-to-basics vehicles — a point that stands out even more as newer cars come loaded with bigger screens and more tech than ever.
“I think the biggest thing that we need to start doing is challenging the industry on what the expectations are from an entry level base vehicle,” the Dodge CEO said. “And I don’t mean that from the word ‘cheap’ or ‘less.’ I mean that from that of back to the basics.”
McAlear pointed to the Dodge Viper as an example of that back-to-basics mindset. It had a naturally aspirated V10 with at least 400 horsepower, but the rest of the car was pretty bare-bones, especially in the early years when it didn’t have many driver-assistance features.
When it comes to keeping things affordable, his comments suggest a sports car might not be Dodge’s main priority right now, even though the brand has hinted at the possibility since last year. Instead, the bigger takeaway seems to be a return to back-to-basics vehicles. That idea already has some history within Stellantis, especially at Jeep, where the Wrangler — now often seen more as a lifestyle piece than a pure work vehicle — is still sold in stripped-down versions.