Report: Dodge Kills Hornet Already UPDATED

by Tim Healey

Published: January 14th, 2026

Our friends at The Autopian are reporting that the Dodge Hornet is dead -- and it's been quietly on its way out for a while.

The Hornet is/was Dodge's second-best selling vehicle -- out of three models. It also shares its platform with the Alfa Romeo Tonale, and that matters here, thanks to president Donald Trump's tariffs. Because the Hornet is built in Italy on the same line as the Tonale and shipped to the States, that means it's subject to tariffs.

Automotive News reports that production was actually suspended in July of last year so that Dodge/Stellantis could see how tariffs would affect the Hornet.

So Dodge just decided to not restart production. Slow sales meant a 25 percent tariff is not worth it.

It's not hard to understand why the Hornet didn't sell better. Despite cool looks, a cool name with historical connotations for Dodge, and a strong marketing blitz at launch, the car itself it was a disappointment. The plug-in powertrain that Dodge touted as the performance version felt heavy with clunky gas-to-EV transitions, and it was expensive. The gas-only version was more fun to drive and cheaper than the PHEV, with the same available features, but the interior felt downmarket and cramped and the car wasn't good enough to compete with popular five-seat crossovers like the Toyota RAV4, Honda CR-V, or even the Ford Bronco Sport.

Meanwhile, the Alfa Romeo version looks better, doesn't cost that much more, and is perhaps a skoosh more fun to drive. And after starting out as PHEV only, Stellantis now offers both engines on the Tonale.

Below is the statement that Stellantis provided to CarBuzz. We will update if we hear from Stellantis and it's not the same statement:

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.

UPDATED: A Dodge rep added this:

Dodge remains focused on its core multi-energy muscle lineup, featuring the all-new 550-horsepower Dodge Charger Scat Pack and 420-horsepower Charger R/T powered by the 3.0L Twin Turbo SIXPACK H.O. and S.O. engines, available in both two and four doors, the Dodge Durango three-row muscle SUV, available with up to 710 horsepower, and the 670-horsepower Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack, the world’s quickest and most powerful muscle car.

The future of the Tonale is unclear.

[Images: Dodge/Stellantis]

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#Dodge #DodgeHornet #AlfaRomeo #alfaromeotonale #Tariffs #NewsBlog #Stellantis #Trump

Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 47 comments

NJRide on Jan 15, 2026

They can't dump the remaining's in rental fleets?

Like Reply
Lorenzo on Jan 18, 2026

Be truthful! The Alfa people were incensed with the copycat and wanted the model killed.

1 Reply
- Tim Healey on Jan 20, 2026
  
  Maybe? We don't know that for sure but previous reporting we did suggests that Alfa was indeed unhappy. https://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/cars/news-blog/report-alfa-romeo-not-pleased-with-dodge-over-hornet-44496685
  
  Report: Alfa Romeo Not Pleased With Dodge Over Hornet
  Read more
  
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