Stellantis’ Handling Of Dodge Should Be A Cautionary Tale

Dodge is now offering heavy discounts on the all-electric Charger Daytona. Dealer bulletins have indicated that the brand is discounting the model by $6,500. This is despite the Daytona being the brand’s new halo vehicle and comes after we’ve seen numerous dealer markdowns to address a lack of demand and Stellantis offering employee discounts to the public.

News of the discounts stems from CarsDirect and pertains to the 2025 model year. However, the deals available on 2024 model year vehicles (which still look to be widely available) are even greater. Last month, the outlet reported discounts upwards of $12,500 in certain parts of the country.

From CarsDirect:

Just as before, Stellantis Financing continues to offer a special financing rate of 1.9% APR for 72 months, but the offers can’t be combined. Shoppers who choose to lease a Charger Daytona EV can get $7,500 in lease cash from Stellantis Financial.

For some shoppers, being able to get a $6,500 discount or 1.9 [percent] APR financing for 72 months could make the 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona EV a more appealing option to purchase than before.

While Dodge has introduced a new discount for the 2025 Charger Daytona, the 2024 model continues to be the best deal. Offers for the EV, though, are pretty confusing.

Nationally, shoppers can choose between four major deals. The first one includes 0 [percent] APR financing for 72 months plus $3,000 in bonus cash. The second deal is $7,500 National Retail Consumer Cash in addition to $3,000 in bonus cash. Shoppers looking to lease the EV can get $7,500 in lease cash plus $6,000 in bonus cash. Lastly, there’s a $2,000 Conquest Bonus Cash deal in select regions like the West Coast.

However, that doesn’t begin to paint the whole picture. According to The Autopian (h/t The Drive), there are examples of the 2025 Dodge Charger Daytona R/T listing for $32,000 below MSRP. Your author even inquired with a couple of local dealers, both of which were prepared to take $9,000 off the current model year straight away.

The Charger Daytona EV, and arguably the way Stellantis has handled the Dodge brand in general under former CEO Carlos Tavares, should be a cautionary tale for the rest of the industry. At this point, it’s crystal clear that Stellantis either didn’t understand the North American market or made Dodge such a low priority that leadership wasn't worried about the fate of the marquee.

An extravagantly priced all-electric vehicle was never going to appeal to a customer base that historically prized affordable V8 motors and simple, traditional designs. But we’ve seen similar trends throughout the industry. Companies are offering the kinds of vehicle they want to sell, rather than the type of vehicle consumers want to purchase. There is likewise a clear limit to how far upmarket companies can reach without hurting themselves. A century ago, automakers were similarly convinced that the path forward was to collectively focus on extravagant and complicated luxury cars carrying exceptionally high price tags.

The Great Depression quickly put an end to that way of thinking by quickly bankrupting roughly half of the auto industry. Only the most resilient brands persisted, many of which also pivoted toward — or were already building — affordable vehicles in order to survive. With a recession looming and clear evidence that a meaningful portion of shoppers now priced out of the new-vehicle market, today’s automakers would be wise to consider the past before they’re caught up in a bleak future they cannot control.

[Images: Stellantis]

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