The steady shift toward electric vehicles may not hit home harder than with Dodge, America’s best-known muscle car brand. Now, the brand changes gears officially, kicking off the marketing campaign officials hope will make old-school fans of the gas-guzzling, rubber-burning muscle car that electric muscle cars are a thing.
The Charger Scat Pack should hit 60 in 3.3 seconds and run the quarter mile in 11.5 seconds, Dodge claims.
How to make the new kid on the block the object of everyone’s affection? Make him the hero. In this case, Dodge hopes its new “Save the World” campaign will change the minds of some of the most traditional classic car fans on the planet.
The new marketing effort begins to hype the all-new, all-electric Dodge Charger Daytona. The car’s been shown off plenty in the last several months, giving Dodge fans a chance to see — and hear — what the future portends.
“At Dodge, we bleed performance and the new Charger Daytona, the next-generation muscle car, is the quickest and most powerful muscle car on the planet,” said Matt McAlear, CEO, Dodge//SRT.
“‘Save the Planet’ gives people an inside look at the first model we are bringing to market and how we are using electrification to push the boundaries and change the conversation. The new Charger Daytona, with up to 670 horsepower, is just the beginning. We have a full multi-energy lineup, including four-door models coming in 2025. We’re just getting started.”
What’s coming?
An electric muscle car is a bit of an anachronism so the new campaign looks to get muscle car fans more comfortable with them … and show them in the best light possible.
2024 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack, shown in Triple Nickel.
The campaign, “Save the Planet,” opens with a view of planet Earth, city skylines and pastoral settings of green open fields, with the brand declaring that it isn’t “building electric vehicles because it’s trendy, we’re building them to make a difference.”
The scene quickly dissolves to the all-new electric Dodge Charger Daytona taking over the streets in all its 670-horsepower and rumbling Fratzonic glory, proclaiming that it will save the planet from “all those lame, soulless, weak-looking, self-driving sleep pods everyone keeps polluting our streets with. That’s why we’re doing it.”
The first 30-second television commercials kick off today, with a full slate of social media ads inundating some part of the internet near you as well. The campaign aims to show that electric vehicles can help improve the planet for generations to come, drivers can have fun while they’re saving the planet.
Why do they need it?
Many Dodge lovers remain unconvinced the new Charger Daytona will make the grade. On the surface, they appear to be wrong.
The all-new Dodge Charger design stands out with a pure widebody stance.
The new battery-electric beast, the Charger Daytona R/T puts out 496 horsepower and 404 pound-feet of torque. Move up to the SRT Hellcat Redeye and that jumps to 670 hp and 627 lb-ft of torque. Those are numbers any performance maven loves to see. That results in a zero-to-60 mph run of 3.3 seconds. The Scat Pack model finishes the quarter mile in 11.5 seconds.
There’s more within what Dodge is calling its “multi-energy muscle car lineup.”
The all-new Dodge Charger will also offer performance choices via multi-energy powertrain options including the 550-hp Dodge Charger SIXPACK H.O., powered by the 3.0-liter Twin Turbo Hurricane High Output engine.
Dodge also keeps its foot on the gas as a pure performance brand with the 710-hp Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat, the most powerful gas engine SUV ever, and best-in-class standard performance in the compact-utility vehicle segment with the Dodge Hornet.
More Dodge News
- All-Electric Dodge Charger Daytona Will Start Around $56,000
- First Look: All-Electric Dodge Charger Daytona and its Gas-Powered Sibling
- Dodge Challenger Nameplate Could Make a Comeback
What’s missing?
All of the power numbers are impressive, but electric vehicles lack the roar … the fury that muscle car fans associate with the vehicles. Dodge claims to have that covered.
The Charger Daytona’s interior is roomier than the outgoing muscle car.
In addition to performance features and drive modes, the world’s first Fratzonic Chambered Exhaust for the Charger Daytona delivers a signature rumble and tactile sound wave output, shattering preconceptions of a typical battery-electric vehicle.
To be fair, the new exhaust doesn’t come from the car’s speakers, it is real noise generated by the vehicle — but it’s not exactly the same as what comes from a ’72 Barracuda or ’69 Challenger. Dodge is hoping it will become the new normal or at least the new acceptable.
Show me the money
Dodge will offer two all-electric trims of the Charger Daytona two-door, designed with performance buyers in mind and wearing iconic R/T and Scat Pack badges.
The Dodge Charger Daytona R/T will have a starting U.S. manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $59,595, and the Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack, which leads the Charger lineup and retains the title as the world’s quickest and most powerful muscle car, will start at a U.S. MSRP of $73,190 (all prices exclude $1,995 destination).
The Dodge Charger Daytona R/T and the Charger Daytona Scat Pack, the first all-electric vehicles from the Dodge brand, also qualify for a full $7,500 federal tax credit when leased.
I hope no one is hoping for Stellantis/Dodge to save anyone.
I couldn’t stomach reading the article, so I may have missed something other than what the headline said.