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Dodge delaying Challenger Hellcats ordered with satin black hood [UPDATE]

The new Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat is one of the most formidable muscle cars on the planet. And it looks the part, too – especially with the optional satin black hood. But if you were one of the first customers to place an order for the 707-horsepower Mopar muscle car and specified the black hood on the options sheet, you may have to wait awhile. According to members of the Hellcat.org forum cited by Car and Driver, deliveries of certain Challenger Hellcats have been delayed without explanation. When these fanatic customers started looking into the issue, they realized that all of the delayed orders shared one thing in common: they all had ordered their Dodges with that optional black hood. Although an exact reason wasn't specified, those who ordered the black hood on their Challenger coupes were told that delivery was being pushed back to February. But some were reportedly informed by their local dealership that things could be moved along if they switched their order to a body-colored hood instead. It's not clear if the issue is a supplier problem, a paint booth issue at the factory, or something else entirely. We've reached out to Dodge for clarification, and will update this story when we hear back. UPDATE: Reached for comment, a Dodge spokesperson confirmed to Autoblog that the satin black hood "is not currently available for production" and that customers who ordered it "can opt to change their order to a body-color hood" or otherwise have their orders delayed until the option becomes available at a later date to be confirmed.

FCA applies to trademark 'Hornet' and 'Dodge Hornet' names

FCA's trademark binge on March 6 isn't the only time this month that the automaker's appealed to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office. Motor Trend discovered two applications FCA submitted on March 3, one for "Dodge Hornet," the other simply for "Hornet." The automaker requested to reserve both names in Canada and Mexico, too. The only time Dodge has ever used the Hornet name was on a chunky, four-door subcompact hatchback revealed at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, planned for the European market with a 170-horsepower engine developed with BMW. Crowds loved the car, encouraging Chrysler to find a way to put it into production. What followed was three years of aborted platform-swapping efforts first with Chinese automaker Chery and then with Nissan before Chrysler gave up. In 2009, analysts suspected new owner Fiat might try to get a Hornet done on one of the Italian automaker's European platforms. Nothing came of that, either, FCA opting to resurrect another historical nameplate for the Dodge Dart sedan in 2011. If a new Dodge model gets the Hornet label, the best guess for a product that needs to succeed in North America is a crossover. With the Grand Caravan soon headed to pasture and the Journey expected to follow soon after, the brand will be left with a big sedan, a big coupe, and a big three-row crossover. A reborn Hornet could pick up where the concept left off, slotting into the compact space left by the outgoing Journey and where models like the Nitro and Caliber once lived. Another guess posits something a little larger, based off the Chrysler Pacifica platform, to lower development costs and increase utilization at the Windsor, Ontario, plant that builds the Pacifica and Grand Caravan. Or the Hornet could be a PSA Group model reworked into service for our market; that opens up the size choices, although PSA is moving all of its products to two platforms, both front-wheel-drive based. It's possible Dodge won't do anything with the name, the recent application nothing more than an attempt to reserve company property. Hudson reserved Hornet in 1950 for a sedan built from 1951 to 1954. After Hudson merged with Nash to form AMC, AMC used the name on a compact sedan built from 1969 to 1977. Chrysler took over AMC in 1987, letting the Hornet trademark expire in 1992.

Ram, Jeep redesigns on hold, Alfa Romeo models may come sooner

Last summer, FCA outlined an ambitious five-year plan that sketched out the company's product intentions for each of its brands through the end of 2018. However, even the best strategies sometimes need tweaking. According to Reuters after speaking with unnamed people at auto suppliers, FCA is now possibly delaying at least a dozen projects in North America for a variety of reasons. From vehicle to vehicle, these postponements allegedly last anywhere from just a few months to over a year. The sources from the suppliers claim that in some cases these tweaks are for engineering and design changes. The next-gen Ram 1500 reportedly has among the shorter delays and is being pushed from mid-2017 to November 2017, according to Reuters. Also, the much-discussed future Jeep Wrangler is allegedly moving a little later to July 2017. Among the vehicles purportedly seeing longer delays, the next-gen Grand Cherokee could get pushed back about a year to 2018. That then forces the launch of the three-row, luxury Grand Wagoneer to be even further away. Jeep's upcoming C-segment CUV and the all-new Chrysler 300, Dodge Charger, and Challenger might also see postponements. The one brand allegedly seeing an accelerated plan is Alfa Romeo. Without going into detail, the sources from these suppliers claim that the Italian automaker is getting even more vehicles for its lineup and could get them even faster than planned. "Those plans need to be flexible and fluid, with the potential to add some vehicles, pull some forward and extend the life cycle of others," FCA said to Reuters about all of these allegations. "We look at these programs on a vehicle-by-vehicle basis." Investment in the auto industry has been a major topic for FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne as of late. He believes consolidation is necessary so that companies aren't burning money on the same projects. Related Video: News Source: ReutersImage Credit: Bill Pugliano / Getty Images Plants/Manufacturing Alfa Romeo Chrysler Dodge Fiat Jeep RAM Sergio Marchionne FCA fca us