Dodge pushed the 710-hp 2021 Durango Hellcat SUV hard, telling potential buyers they only had “one chance” to drive the fastest team bus in the drop-off lane. When Dodge said last year that the Durango Hellcat would return as a 2023 model, customers were angry. Seven original clients have sued the company as a group, asking for more than $5 million in damages. Last week, a group sued to stop the 2023 Dodge Durango Hellcat from being made. The lawsuit is right that Dodge did “false and misleading advertising and marketing” in 2020 when it told potential customers that the 2021 Durango Hellcat would be the only model made. Dodge later changed its mind and said the 2023 Durango Hellcat would have nearly the same specs. In the lawsuit, which wants more than $5 million in damages, Dodge representatives are said to have said things that made it sound like there wouldn’t be anymore after that year. The biggest? CEO of Dodge Tim Konicki’s said in a Dodge ad that “The Hellcat Durango will only be available for one model year. When we start taking orders for the ’22 models, the Durango Hellcat won’t be an option. Then you will only be able to buy one.” In a Dodge press release, Kanski’s is also credited with the following, according to the lawsuit: “Since the 2021 Durango Hellcat will only be available for one model year, it will be a one-of-a-kind performance SUV that will be in high demand for many years. All dealer orders have already been reserved, but there is still time to get a dealer order that hasn’t been sold.” Enough to want to sue These quotes suggest that there may be some truth to the case. Dodge sold this SUV as a rare and powerful one, and some people paid more for it. The lawsuit says that some Hellcat owners spent nearly $115,000 on their cars. People are angry that Dodge is suddenly making more of what is the exact vehicle. There is another side to this story: Dodge said it would only make enough Durango Hellcats for a year. Make a brief plan first. The “one shot” video was part of the launch of the Hellcat Durango in July 2020. Kanski’s told Muscle Cars and Trucks in the same month that the Durango Hellcat would not be a limited-edition car with a serial number. Dodge, on the other hand, only made a small number because of the pandemic: “Because of all the changes we had to make to the plant to get it back up and running after COVID, the number of things we can build has changed. At most, 2000. I am curious to know how much it is, less than 2000. It will depend on what the customers want and how much we can build in six months, “He said. No Limit on Production in 2023? Even though COVID was part of the problem, it also helped solve it. Due to a shortage of chips worldwide, Dodge made more Durango Hellcats by changing how it made other models. The fact that the Hellcats used so much gas and didn’t help Stellate’s meet its emissions goals was the cherry on top. Motor Authority, which also quoted a Dodge spokesperson, said that COVID-related problems are getting less common, and engineers at Dodge were able to meet emissions laws by changing the fuel tank, fuel filler, and carbon canister. Car and Driver asked Dodge for their thoughts before the article came out. The company told other media outlets that it does not talk about legal cases that are still going on.
