One of the most eagerly anticipated vehicles of the next couple of years is the replacement for the Dodge Charger and Challenger. Last summer Dodge debuted the electric Charger Daytona SRT concept, a two-door coupe with retro styling that was billed as a close preview of the brand’s first production EV. More recent reports have suggested the production Charger will also be available with gas engines, too, but Dodge has been keeping most details close to its chest.
Now, a new Christmas ad spot from Dodge seems to show the production version of the next-gen Charger, and it’s looking pretty damn good.
The commercial begins with an animated book titled “Santa’s Naughty List: An Origin Story” opening up to reveal its pages, with a voiceover talking about how Santa’s naughty list is way better to get on than his nice list. The pages flip and cut to real-life footage of a Challenger, Charger and Durango drifting through the snow, but the illustration of the next-gen Charger appears briefly right after the book opens up.
Overall the Charger’s design sticks really close to last year’s concept, but there are a few noticeable changes. The production Charger retains the concept’s two-door body, which has a tall greenhouse and a liftback hatch instead of a traditional trunk. A couple months ago a photo leaked of the Charger’s body-in-white at a factory, and this illustration matches up with that image.
While the concept car only had a thin light bar that surrounded the rectangular grille, this Charger has a single round headlight at each corner of the grille. It also has more realistic door handles, side mirrors, and window pillars. But the bulging hood is nearly identical to that of the concept, as is the overall surfacing and lines of the body.
It’s unclear whether the Charger shown has an electric or internal combustion powertrain; we can’t make out whether the nose has Dodge’s hashmark logo or the retro Fratzog logo that will be used for its EVs. Previous reports pointed to the EV coming with either 400-volt or 800-volt architectures, with the top trim potentially having 800 horsepower, and Mopar’s Direct Connection program will offer factory upgrades. (Fingers crossed the production version will have the concept’s wild ‘exhaust’ sound.) The gas-powered Chargers, meanwhile, will use Stellantis’ new Hurricane twin-turbo inline-6 and feature either rear- or all-wheel drive.
Dodge has already stopped taking orders for Hemi-powered versions of the current Challenger and Charger, with the 2023 model year Last Call models marking the end of production. When the image of the new Charger flashes on screen, text at the bottom says the car will be available in late 2024, so Dodge could reveal the muscle car within the next few months. A Dodge spokesperson declined to comment on the record.
