Dodge’s entry-level SUV was already on shaky ground, but now it’s officially gone.
When it first hit the scene in 2023, Dodge billed the new Hornet as a “muscle SUV”, with class-leading power and performance for its price tag. Built alongside its Alfa Romeo Tonale sibling in Italy, this car also offered a more affordable price point for folks willing to jump into the Dodge brand. That’s all gone, though, as Stellatis confirms the $32K SUV is dead and gone (per a statement to Car and Driver).
After just three model years (2023, 2024 and 2025), the Hornet has made its last sting. Why? A company spokesperson said, “Production [of the Hornet] 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.” Exactly how long that support is going to last is unclear, but it may ironically outlast the car’s actual production run, since automakers tend to keep support going for several years past the end of a car’s life cycle.
This development is hardly surprising, of course, if you’ve kept your ear to the ground on what’s been happening with the Hornet. It had a rocky start, to begin with, as Dodge staggered the gas-powered GT and R/T plug-in hybrid’s launches. It’s also had its fair share of issues (it even failed the TFL Slip Test in pretty dramatic fashion). Dodge itself postponed production last summer as the U.S.’ tariff policies sent automakers scrambling to rethink their production strategies. Apparently, the company doesn’t see the business case in trying to sell the Hornet through those levies, as it makes importing the vehicles from Italy more expensive.
That said, the Alfa Romeo Tonale is still in production and available to U.S. customers for 2026.
With the Hornet’s departure from the Dodge lineup, the new entry point becomes the Durango, which starts at $40,990 for the GT model. For a limited time, though, the up side (if you can call it that) of the Hornet going away is that new examples are super cheap. While MSRPs sat in the low-to-mid-$30,000s, dealers are shaving thousands of dollars off the asking price just to move these cars out of inventory. You’ll have to reckon with whether you want to take on a potential servicing headache down the road if you do buy one, but at least Stellantis does have a substantial aftersales support structure, unlike smaller, now-defunct cars like the Fisker Ocean.
