2012 Dodge Caliber......sxt Plus....2.0l......repairable / Salvage on 2040-cars

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Dodge Hornet supposedly snapped inside Alfa Romeo Tonale factory

It appears that someone in Stellantis' Pomigliano d’Arco Assembly Plant in Italy couldn't keep their cellphone to themselves. Video uploaded to the Alfa Romeo Club Italia Facebook page, then quickly removed, purports to show Dodge's brand-engineered version of the Alfa Romeo Tonale in the same factory where the Alfa will be built. The Dodge is expected to be called the Hornet, and there are a few differences between it and and Alfa Romeo, which is understandable. But if the screenshots on Twitter are accurate, then the Dodge looks a lot closer to the Alfa Romeo than perhaps anyone expected. The front fascia and hood fall in line with Dodge's design language. The Alfa grille is replaced by a narrow, stepped upper grille, and the hood is one of the vented units similar to those available for Dodge's R/T performance trims. And as Mopar Insiders noticed, the silhouette of this car's front end matches a vehicle silhouette Dodge showed during Stellantis' 2021 EV Day.   Inside, the Italian brand's crest in the steering wheel center cap is replaced by Dodge's twin slashes, and the steering wheel has been stripped of the large, curved paddle shifters the Tonale showed on its debut. There's still a start/stop button on the steering wheel, but where the Tonale has a driving mode dial on its dash, this supposed Hornet has another start/stop button. Dodge's push-to-start buttons are usually on the instrument panel, so our guess is that the wheel is a holdover for testing. On the center tunnel, the parking alert buttons and Italian Tricolore flag on the Alfa Romeo are replaced by three different buttons.   We've known Dodge has two electrified vehicles on the way, and the Hornet name has been low-key buzzing for two years. Fiat Chrysler applied to trademark the name in the U.S. in March 2020; at the time, it was thought a vehicle with that name could replace the Journey. In 2021, a July rumor out of Italy was the first whisper of the Hornet name being attached to the Alfa Romeo Tonale. In August, when Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said Dodge would get a PHEV in 2024, watchers pegged that model as the Hornet. That hybrid powertrain would show a year after the vehicle's launch, the Hornet anticipated as a 2023 model with the Tonale's turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder. That engine could get the same 256 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque as the Tonale, or be boosted to satisfy Dodge's performance credentials.

2020 Dodge Charger pricing starts at $31,390

We've been talking about the 2020 Dodge Charger for three months, and it's finally time to start doing the math on trade-in values and loan payments. The 2020 Charger lineup starts with the SXT in rear-wheel-drive trim priced at $29,895, plus a $1,495 destination charge for a total of $31,390. That's a $425 bump over the 2019 model. The rest of the range doesn't get a price bump higher than $250 save for the Hellcat Widebody. The 2019 Charger didn't offer Widebody variants, so those are new for 2020. The lineup with MSRP changes from 2019: Charger GT RWD $33,390 ($150 more than 2019) Charger SXT AWD $35,090 ($25 more) Charger R/T $37,890 ($150 more) Charger Scat Pack $41,490 ($250 less) Charger Scat Pack Widebody $47,490 (brand new model) Charger SRT Hellcat Widebody $71,140 ($2,150 more than 2019 non-widebody) Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition $75,635 (brand new model) There's a price differential of $44,245 from bottom to top. Even more relevant to the Charger faithful, there's a displacement and power differential from the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 in the SXT with 292 horsepower and 260 pound-feet of torque to the 6.2-liter supercharged Hemi V8 in the Charger Hellcat Widebody Daytona 50th Anniversary Edition with 717 hp and 650 lb-ft of torque. Dodge plumps the Scat Pack in the middle as having the "most horsepower per dollar," with its 392-cubic-inch Hemi V8 pumping 485 hp and 475 lb-ft. In the amusement park business, this is what's called "Fun for everyone." The Scat Pack Widebody makes a break from its standard sibling with stiffer springs, larger sway bars, and shocks, and retuned dampers. Changes throughout the rest of the lineup save for the SXT center on new wheel and tire options, and an updated Performance Handling Group on the GT and R/T trims. The 2020 Charger order book opens in the fall, but America's family-friendly muscle car won't start hitting dealer lots until early 2020.

As Dodge Challenger changes, hybrid or however else, it's sure to stay retro

Unverified rumors claim Dodge will make major technical changes to the Charger and the Challenger (pictured) to comply with looming regulations. They'll likely be lighter than they currently are, they could get smaller in nearly every direction, and you can safely bet that they'll incorporate some degree of electrification. The retro-inspired, heritage-laced design is here to stay, however. Mark Trostle, Dodge's horsepower-addicted chief of design, told Muscle Car & Trucks that looks deserve a big chunk of credit for making the Charger and the Challenger as popular as they are. Horsepower and quarter-mile times help sell cars, but it's the "magic of their design" that lures buyers into showrooms to check out the modern-day muscle cars in the metal. "I wouldn't want to ruin something that's been so successful for us," Trostle concluded. He compared the Challenger to the Jeep Wrangler, another design icon in the Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) portfolio. The offroader entered its fourth generation in 2018; every part of it is new, and it's not a Xerox copy of its predecessor, but it's still immediately recognizable as a Wrangler. Trostle hinted he's planning this type of evolutionary design for the next-generation Challenger. After all, it's part of the company's history, and heritage is something no amount of money can buy.  While it sounds like development work on the next-generation Challenger is ongoing, Dodge isn't finished with the current-generation car yet. The nameplate will celebrate its 50th birthday during the 2020 model year, and it's reasonable to assume Dodge has something special planned for it.