2024 Dodge Durango Hellcat Rides Again as the Challenger and Charger Die
The Durango Hellcat—which was initially meant to be a one-year special—is now entering its third year of production.
Dodge apparently can't make up its mind. According to Automotive News, the Durango Hellcat is coming back yet again for the 2024 model year. This is despite the automaker already claiming to send off the 710-horsepower Durango... twice.
In 2021, Dodge built 3,000 Durango Hellcats, making each one an exclusive muscle truck that owners thought would become instant collectors' items. Then, in 2022, Dodge re-released the Durango Hellcat for the 2023 model year despite saying previously that it wouldn't build any more. Customers then thought that was it for Dodge's mightiest SUV, though that reportedly isn't the case. The Drive has reached out to Dodge for comment and will update this article with the company's response.
When Dodge announced the second run of Durango Hellcats, owners of the first 3,000 were furious because their previously ultra-exclusive, one-year-only performance SUVs were sure to lose value. One customer even attempted to sue Dodge, claiming that their truck was no longer worth what it should be. You can pick your side in that fight, but the owner—who asked that we refer to them simply as Stacy—had this to say a year ago:
"I had to do something if only out of principle. If you ask me what I personally want as an outcome... it would be simply that they stick to their word and do not build any more."
Adding insult to injury is the fact that the Challenger and Charger Hellcats are dying off at the end of 2023. It's a sad world we live in when two iconic rides like that die so a muscle SUV can live. Funny enough, Dodge also showed its indecisiveness by bringing the manual transmission back for the Challenge Hellcat's final year after initially saying the manual was dead.
Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis recently told Automotive News that the Durango Hellcat isn't a car that customers buy for value. They just buy it because they want one. "We're not competing on price, value, fuel economy, things like that," he said in an interview with the outlet. "It's 'I want a Durango or I don't,' and that's really how you carve out a unique space in the segment."
Official pricing hasn't been confirmed yet but the 2023 Durango Hellcat starts at $95,200. Dodge didn't say how many Durango Hellcats would be made for 2024 but does it really matter at this point? Until a new Durango generation debuts, there's always the possibility of yet another Hellcat model year, as Dodge doesn't seem to know when to stop.
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