You Can’t Buy A Dodge Durango Hellcat After 2021: Here’s Why
A lot of automotive scribes are touting the 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat as the “ultimate SUV.” That’s saying something with, oh, about 3,200 different SUVs out there with another 49,000 about to be revealed. That said, there is a lot of interest in the Durango Hellcat but there’s a catch. If you want one you’ve got to get your order in. You can’t buy a Dodge Durango Hellcat after 2021. Here’s why:
Dodge has no set amount of Durango Hellcats it plans on producing. But there are both manufacturing and fed-related circumstances that mean after July 2021 Dodge will stop building them. From Muscle Cars & Trucks here’s Dodge head honcho Tim Kuniskis explanation, “The Durango SRT Hellcat is not limited, it’s not serialized like what we did with the Challenger SRT Demon. But we’re only building it for six months. With all of the changes we made in the plant to come back up to production post-COVID-19, with sequencing and spacing in the plant, it’s changed the numbers we can build.”
The amount of Hellcat Durangos will largely depend on how many are ordered
So if the Durango SRT Hellcat is not a limited-production SUV then how many will Dodge make? Kuniskis says that the number is unknown. When pressed for a number he said, “Less than 2,000.” The amount will largely depend on how many are ordered. Some dealers will order one or three on spec, but most will come from customer demand.
Dodge could continue to make the Durango SRT Hellcat available for the next few years, except it can’t. With new emissions regulations set to begin for 2022 production the Durango/Hellcat combo won’t meet those numbers. “When we switch to the 2022 model year, there are new evaporative emission requirements that come in that the Hellcat engine does not meet in that platform,” Kuniskis said.
If you want one you won’t be able to get a 2022 model
Another issue with Durangos, in general, is that the Jefferson North plant will soon retool for the next-generation 2021 Jeep Grand Cherokee. It is built on the same platform and is built at the same plant as the Durango. It is supposed to be available by the end of this year but may have been pushed off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Whether it is or isn’t if you want one you won’t be able to get a 2022 model. There won’t be any.
To be clear both the Hellcat Charger and Challenger will continue into at least 2022. A new model of each is expected as 2023 models. Much of that hinges on the pending Fiat Chrysler-PSA Group merger. With the looming in the background, it is anybody’s guess what the Fiat Chrysler lineup will look like midway through the 2020s.
Also, Kuniskis said the standard Durango will continue to be produced in the near future. Dodge will start taking orders for the Durango Hellcat in the Fall of this year. Production at the Jefferson plant will start at the beginning of 2021. Though no pricing is available right now you can expect this Durango to be around $90,000 give or take.
