How Dodge's U.S. compact crossover is giving Italy a boost

MILAN -- Production of the Dodge Hornet compact crossover in Italy for the U.S. market will help parent Stellantis to boost plant capacity use.

The Hornet will be built alongside the Alfa Romeo Tonale, its platform sibling, in Stellantis's factory in Pomigliano, close to Naples.

The two models share the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Small Wide platform, which also underpins the Jeep Compass and Renegade, which are also built in Italy, in Stellantis's Melfi factory.

Italian unions hope production of the two models will give a significant boost to Stellantis production in the country

"The production start of the Hornet should require a second shift beyond the current single shift for the Tonale," the FIM metalworkers union said in a July report.

Stellantis has not disclosed production or sales targets for the Tonale or Hornet.

Alfa Romeo CEO Jean-Philippe Imparato said in an interview with Automotive News Europe that the brand would be happy to sell 30,000 Tonale SUVs in its first year. The Tonale's global annual sales potential could be in the range of 70,000 to 80,000 units, he added. Europe could account for 45,000 to 60,000 units, with 10,000 to 15,000 possible in the U.S., he said.

The Tonale will be initially sold in Europe and North America, while the Hornet will not be marketed in Europe, Domenico Gostoli, head of the Dodge and Ram brands for Europe, told Automotive News Europe.

"Dodge is a high-performance car brand, and we mostly sell top-of-the-range versions V-8-powered [vehicles] with more than 600 hp. If we want to grow the brand in Europe we have to start from our strengths. We are currently focusing on the Challenger SRT Hellcat large coupe, and the Durango large SUV."

Dodge sold about 1,000 cars in Europe in 2021, Gostoli said. “We suffered like others from the disruption in semiconductor supply,” he said.

Ram, another Stellantis U.S. brand, sold 5,100 pickups in Europe last year. Dodge and Ram do not sell their vehicles directly in Europe, but rely on three large importers: Canada-owned AEC, Swiss AGT and Swedish KWA, who in turn supply around 300 dealers.

How Hornet differs from Tonale

Both the Dodge Hornet and Alfa Romeo share similar styling on the side, rear and interior of the cars. The main differences are seen at the front, reflecting the styling cues of each brand.

The Hornet has a hood with integrated heat extractors, "mail slot"-style grille opening sculpted into the fascia, and aggressive lamp graphics.

The powertrains are also slightly different. The Hornet will be offered in two main versions.

The Hornet GT, available from late 2022, will have a 2.0-liter 4-cylinder turbocharged gasoline engine with 265 horsepower and a PowerShot feature that supplies an extra 25-hp burst on demand at 15-second intervals.

The U.S. version of the Alfa Romeo Tonale will use the same powertrain with a slightly lower output of 252 hp. Both the Tonale and Hornet will be offered with standard four-wheel drive.

The Hornet R/T with a plug-in hybrid powertrain, will launch next year, powered by a 1.3-liter turbocharged gasoline engine from the Stellantis Global Small Engine (GSE) family, coupled with an electric motor powering the rear axle.

The plug-in version of the Tonale, to be unveiled in October, will also have a slightly lower output of 271 hp.

Italian production

Annual production of the Tonale and Hornet at Stellantis’s Pomigliano plant could top 100,000 cars if Hornet sales reach 30,000 in the U.S., as expected, in combination with the Tonale’s 70,000-80,000 units globally.

According to the FIM union the plant built 79,730 units through June, including 76,000 units of the Panda minicar and, on a separate line, 3,730 units of the Tonale.

The overall production level through June was 10 percent higher than the same period of 2021, but 32 percent lower than in pre-COVID 2019.

Pomigliano assembled 123,000 units in 2021, the lowest figure since 2012.

Overall car production from Stellantis in Italy was 248,990 units in the first half, up 2 percent on 2021. Through December 2021it was 408,526. The possibility of 100,000 additional units at Pomigliano would increase the figure by nearly 25 percent.