Dodge Hornet: twin brother of Alfa Romeo Tonale

The delivery range of Dodge mainly consists of models that have become quite aging. The Challenger and Charger, for example, date back to 2008 and 2010, and the Durango has been around for ten years. A new model can use the American delivery range of Dodge and so Dodge pulls the Tonale from the warehouse of former FCA and now Stellantis stable mate Alfa Romeo.

Dodge Hornet

You don’t have to be an expert to see from the Dodge Hornet that it is basically just an Alfa Romeo Tonale. Dodge pulls the Alfa signature scudettogrille of the front and replace it with a more common horizontal slot. Under the grille located directly between the headlights, we find a second letterbox in the front bumper adapted for the Hornet. Lower in the nose is another large opening with – you guessed it – two more openings on either side.

Alfa Romeo Tonale

Not only the grille and bumpers are different, the headlights are also covered with a Dodge sauce. They have a different layout than the units that Alfa Romeo screws on the Tonale. Dodge gives the Hornet a new hood with cooling openings and also adjusts the taillight. Here too, the shape of the light units is the same as that of the Tonale, but the interpretation is completely different. Striking here: in contrast to the Tonale, the brand logo that is located between the two optically connected rear lights on the back of the Dodge Hornet is illuminated. The rear bumper hardly differs from the one on the back of the Italian original.

Also on engine level, the Dodge Hornet is not completely identical to the Tonale. Alfa supplies its SUV in the Netherlands with a 275 hp plug-in hybrid powertrain and with 130 hp and 160 hp hybrid powertrains. The Hornet, on the other hand, also gets a 269 hp and 400 Nm strong 2.0 four-cylinder, a blown petrol engine that is tied to a nine-speed automatic transmission. This sprints the Hornet in about 6.5 seconds to a speed of 100 km/h. That Hornet GT gets the Hornet R/T next to it. That is a plug-in hybrid, but with 290 hp and 520 Nm, the plug-in is more powerful than the plug-in version of the Tonale. The R/Ts get special dampers, Brembo brakes and are optionally available with a Track Pack that is also available on the Hornet GT.

The interior of the Hornet is also not the same as that of the Alfa Romeo Tonale.

Inside, the Tonale genes are clearly visible, although the Hornet dashboard, like the appearance of the SUV, is also topped with a Dodge sauce. The round ventilation grilles of the Tonale make way for more rectangular shaped copies and the part of the dashboard between the infotainment screen and the right air grille is also different in shape. Below the infotainment screen we also find differently shaped ventilation grilles. The part that connects the center tunnel with the center console is also filled in a different way on the Hornet.

Goes Like Hell

Dodge immediately introduces a conceptual version of the Hornet with which the brand looks forward to an extra sporty variant. It’s called Hornet GT GLH and in terms of naming it is a nod to the Omni GLH, where the three separate letters stand for Goes Like Hell. So goes like the fire brigade. This variant has double exhaust pipes, is lowered, stands on 20-inch light metal and comes with various red details just a little more exciting for the day.

Dodge Hornet GT GLH Concept

Model name Hornet is known from the eponymous Hudson from the 1950s. Hudson became part of American Motor Company (AMC) in the mid-1950s. Eventually AMC – after a detour via Renault – came into the hands of Chrysler. That in turn explains how the model name Hornet eventually ended up with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and now with Stellantis. Chrysler showed a concept car called a Hornet in 2006. A production model derived from that study model would eventually be built together by Chrysler and Nissan, but it never came to that.

Dodge has been known in recent history for borrowing cars from other models. For example, the Dodge Attitude is secretly a Mitsubishi Attrage (Space Star ‘sedan’) and the Dodge Neon is actually a Fiat Tipo Sedan. The new Journey that Dodge sells in Mexico is another Chinese SUV.