Dodge has a new CEO–Mat McAlear–and he has some great ideas. Some others seem a bit far-fetched. But we’ll get to that later. In a recent interview with The Drive, he says he’s dreaming of an ” an entry-level halo.” Here’s everything we know so far.
First off, McAlear admitted “I don’t know if there’s a need” for a Halo. But he says many enthusiast vehicles don’t answer a “need.” He said, “I think there’s inspiration in seeing what some of the powersports companies have done. Not only the crazy side-by-sides, but the three-wheelers, the Slingshots, I think there’s something there.”
OK, so far so good. Dodge wants to build a vehicle for weekend warriors. Less a daily driver and more an enthusiast sports car. “Is there a want, a desire, and a market? I think yeah. I think there’s a market for two things. There’s a market for an entry-level halo and a top-of-the-line halo.”
What’s that entry-level mean? “Back to that sub-$30,000 mark.”
So far, I absolutely agree. We’ve seen the percentage of manual transmissions triple. The “classic” Gen Z buyers most often shop for insurance for is a Miata (NA, to be precise). Even folks happy to commute in an electric car are dreaming of something gas-powered to take out on the weekends.
“I think there’s a market for people who just want to have that weekend car again, who would like a Viper, but don’t have that $100 or $120K. Something that doesn’t need all the safety features, doesn’t need the heated seats. Just a car.”
Now that Dodge shares engineering with Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Renault, and Peugeot, a nimble “toss-able” Miata competitor isn’t a moonshot. I’d point out that the 2.0-liter turbo I4 in the Jeep Wrangler makes 270 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque, and Stellantis makes a zillion of them.
Finally, there’s a precedent for an entry-level halo car. I’m speaking–of course–of the Mustang. The move in the mid-1960s to move sports car performance down market from the big-block muscle cars won the hearts of drivers everywhere. Why shouldn’t Dodge give a modern pony car a shot? But then McAlear kept talking, and things got weird.
Will Dodge’s Miata be a Franken-car?
The rest of McAlear’s interview wasn’t nearly so heartening. First, he said “V8 is no longer a bad word around the company.” So we’re returning to a V8 Charger? Or is he trying to do a V8 in this entry-level sports car? Possibly.
He went on to say, “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.”
So wait, this sub-$30k sports car may focus on “straight line” performance and even have a V8? While McAlear repeated Kuniskis’ assertion that “Dodge doesn’t have to be everything to everybody,” it sounds like this next project is truly trying to be everything to everybody.
The only thing that could mess up a pure driving machine is too many chefs in the kitchen. And now that Stellantis is 15 combined brands…what could possibly go wrong?
I’m genuinely pulling for Dodge. I hope McAlear can make an entry-level halo a reality. But let’s just say I’ll believe it when I see it.
