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Report: Dodge CEO Considering Sub-$30,000 Sports Car
The cheapest model in Dodge’s three-car range is the $33,180 Hornet crossover. While that’s well below the average price of a new car, which hovers in the vicinity of $50,000, Dodge CEO Matt McAlear believes there’s room in the portfolio for an even cheaper entry-level model with a big emphasis on fun.
McAlear told The Drive that he likes the idea of an “entry-level halo” car. “I don’t know what I’d compare it to. I think there’s inspiration in seeing what some of the powersport companies have done. Not only the crazy side-by-sides, but the three-wheelers, the Slingshots … I think there’s something there,” he added.
That doesn’t mean Dodge is about to go head-to-head with Polaris. McAlear envisions the sub-$30,000 model as “a weekend car” aimed at enthusiasts “who would like a Viper but don’t have that $100,000 or $120,000″ to spend.
(As a side note, you can put a Viper in your garage for much less than that. Hagerty values a 2000 GTS in #3, or Good, condition at $55,600 and a #3 1995 RT/10 at $35,000. But we’ve digressed.)
McAlear must be thinking of something like a Mazda MX-5 Miata or a Subaru BRZ, then? Not quite.
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“If we’re gonna do future products, we need to get original like the Viper. It’s gotta come to market and be unique and different and Dodge. Not a Corvette fighter, not a Mustang fighter. That’s why we’ve never said we want to go after Mustang or Camaro, right? We’ve always been in a straight line, different kind of performance.”
Presumably, those criteria rule out a light, two-seater roadster that’s aimed directly at the Miata.
And that’s fine. There are other recipes for driving thrills at an affordable price. What about a roadster that straddles the line between the three-wheelers McAlear alluded to and a Miata look-like?
Dodge has experimented with the idea of a small, affordable sports car several times in the past few decades. One that comes to mind is the Razor concept shown above, which was unveiled in 2002 with a turbocharged, 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. It featured a six-speed manual gearbox, rear-wheel-drive, and a pair of Razor scooters (remember those?) instead of a spare. The Sling Shot concept released in 2004 was a two-seater with a targa top, while the 2007 Demon concept was a two-seater clearly developed to take on the Miata. None of these design studies reached production, however.
McAlear also told The Drive that he sees a market for “a top-of-the-line halo” car, something along the lines of the Viper. Although we love the idea of a cheap, fun Dodge and a follow-up to the Viper, we’re taking his comments with a Durango-sized grain of salt. Automakers are businesses and need to turn a profit. Cars are very expensive to develop, and it takes more than an executive’s wish to put a new model in a showroom.
Profits are especially important for Dodge because 2024 wasn’t a stellar year for Stellantis. Would enough people buy a Dodge sports car priced under $30,000 to justify the cost of development? (Or, for that matter, a halo car?) Not likely. Sales of the Miata, the BRZ, and the Toyota GR86 totaled 8103, 3345, and 11,426 units, respectively, in 2024. Granted, the Mazda and the Toyota sold better last year than in 2023, but this type of car is, by nature, niche. And, with just three nameplates in Dodge’s range, is a “weekend car” really the most important item on the automaker’s “to-do” list?
What, in your opinion, should be Dodge’s next model? Let us know in the comments below.
They have a cheap, fun, weekend roadster already. It’s called a Jeep Wrangler. Just simplify it and get the price down out of the stratosphere. Or is it too much of a cash cow? Surely those tools and dies have been written down after all these years.
Cheap? Jeep?
Good comment about expensive Jeeps. Recently the business news (that is where you learn what is happening) noted a Jeep dealership meeting with Stellantis was a bit “rowdy” as Jeep dealers complained their lots were loaded with overpriced and overloaded JEEPS that were NOT selling! The dealers wanted “affordable” Jeeps to sell. I’ll add in the past Jeep considered building an “off road sportster”. Sure a niche vehicle, but based on existing parts it might be able to sell well enough to “break even” and bolster the brand. Also there is little competition at the moment. A lady I know said “I sure would like a sporty open car like a Miata, but it is TOO low and scary in all the SUV traffic. Hey Stellantis — are you listening?
Everyone wants an “affordable” vehicle. That fact is lost on manufacturers. If there were no such thing as leases, and one had to actually buy and own a vehicle, the $60,000 cars would be stockpiled in every American port city and “de-contenting” would be the order of the day.
Jeep Wrangler a roadster? More like an ugly shrunken station wagon.
If only they could do something about the abysmal reliability.
This thing is FUGLY
The Dodge Copperhead that Lutz wanted was the car they should have done. It was much better looking.
But low price sports cars are not profit centers and usually the first to die when money is tight.
Lutz got his cheap sports cars at GM with the Kappa sports cars.
Not to mention that Copperhead is a great name for a “little brother” to the Viper!
Given inflation I have little hope for a “sports car” under $30k from Dodge. What Stellantis tiny platform will they use, what engines will they borrow from other economy minded vehicles and will it be fwd or rwd or maybe awd? The Miata and GR86 start at $29.3/$30k but are known quantities and also been around for a bit. Dodge is going to compete with these cars with a company that his hurting for money right now?
Maybe they can platform share with Mazda and sell it as a Fiat … oh wait. But seriously, maybe you get enough volume if you do it as a shared Alfa, Fiat, Dodge, and Renault platform. Long live the Spider.
Yes, that was my thought as well. Stellantis already has a couple of brands that are associated with (relatively) inexpensive, small, 2-seat sports cars: Alfa and Fiat. Why call this new model “Dodge”, a name that Stellantis has spent millions indoctrinating the public to think “truck” and not “car” when they hear it?
And yes, selling any small-production vehicle in America for under $30K is going to be tough. The cost per unit to pass the emissions and crash requirements, certification costs, tariffs, etc. etc. are significant.
Use the Peugeot 208 platform. Between the Argentinian and European variations they should be able to cook up a North American 2 door coupe [crossfire-esque style], a 4 door hatch (call it a Neon), maybe even a new mini-Rampage.
Keep it cheap. Make sure it is reliable, and leverage common parts and minimal year-over-year changes to make them live zombie lives (people can keep them going long after they were “supposed to die”).
Then have the patience to see it through. 15-20 years later you have a legend.
Those are great suggestions! Particularly, the idea of a new Rampage. I’d buy a sporty car cum pickup. The day I went to pre-order my Pontiac ST, the Pontiac dealer told me the GM had just shut them down.
I dunno. As much as I am charged by the aspirations of the new exec, I’m skeptical that a) it could even be accomplished, and b) that it’s really what the American public needs/wants right now (at least in sufficient numbers to make it pay). Tariffs, inflationary trends, employment layoffs, high interest rates, friction with Canada and Mexico – those sorts of things don’t indicate to me that a “fun weekend car” is top-of-list for most folks right now.
Thanks for considering the Tariffs and ‘friction with Canada’, something that we did not start. We foolishly thought we had a good, reliable trading relationship with the U.S.. But that has all changed, and not for the better.
Those with the advantage think trade was fine.
It will be renegotiated and both parties will be fine.
Exactly
Baloney. The US clearly had the advantage in the last round. Your boy negotiated it! How could it not be a Big Win? We are boiling mad up here at being disrespected and messed with by your Gangsta King, and it will take a looooong time for us to cool off. I’d rather sell everything we produce at a discount to Europe than see any of it cross the border going south again. That includes 3/4s of the aluminium you use. If he shutters entire Canadian industries, that’s not going to soften us up.
I’m pretty apolitical, so am not giving a thumbs up or thumbs down to those things, I’m just saying they are now a reality and therefore will play a part in whether this idea can be made workable.
I’m skeptical. We have seen too many of these one-offs that are underpowered.
What do you consider “underpowered”? Small sports cars are not synonymous with horsepower,and that’s fine.
Right now the cheap low cost sports car is endangered. Many mfgs facing survival are not going to invest in low profit low volume cars.
Even the Miata could be nearing the end.
Sounds to me like McAlear is just thinking out loud. As though he had nothing new to say but had to say something. A fun sub 30 ( small print $42,995 msrp with optional equipment shown.see dealer for details) might have worked just post covid for those wanting to get back out and willing to spend those ‘there was no where to go’ savings but that ship has sailed. Even then, who thinks Dodge in a small sports car-ish ? They’ve put all their chips down in the muscle car category. I suspect in the dash for some quick cash they’ll be building a new limited edition hemi Charger. Then a special edition, then a last chance, then another last chance and this time we really mean it ! then a…it worked last time.
All of what you said. Especially the “thinking out loud” part and the 27 knock-off, slightly different, hurry-it’s-about-to-go-away, just-kidding-here’s-another, and another version. 💀
Crossfire 2.0?
Crossfire SRT-Hurricane 6! Showing off that new 500+HP Hurricane I-6 Engine! O’h the SRT program was shut down, sad to say!
Agreed. See recent JT post.
Yes, it looks like the Crossfire. My first thought.
Stephen Rose, Crossfire!!, Thankyou!, I was racking my brain and cold not think what this car looked like, bad case of mental cramps
‘Glad to see this may still be in the works, as I recall Dodge considering that Miata-competitive Demon roadster concept back in 2007. Of course, back then its price was being pitched as “only $15,000.”
Whatever they do, don’t make it an EV
AMEN!!!!!
Audi TT clone?
Low price means low profit…..
not gonna happen.
My Fiat X/1.9 senses are tingling, too bad the non buying public will just say it is underpowered and that is why they won’t buy it when in reality it is a great car but few people have the budget for brand new toys that require full coverage and a payment plus need to be garaged. The last car standing in the somewhat affordable yet impractical 2 seater war is the Miata. With a lot of 30+ year old Miata still on the road it is going to be hard to prove you have something better than can be had used for 1/4 the price.