Story at a glance
- Dodge is ending production of the Charger and Challenger.
- The Charger and Challenger models — iconic muscle cars in the 1960s and 1970s — were revived by Dodge in the early 2000s.
- The move by Dodge comes as major automakers are moving away from traditional gas-powered cars to electric vehicles to curb harmful carbon dioxide emissions.
American automobile company Dodge is discontinuing production of its widely popular gas-powered muscle cars.
Dodge, Stellantis’s American performance car brand, on Monday announced both the Charger and Challenger models in their current forms will end with the 2023 model year, as the company follows suit with the rest of the automobile industry and makes large investments to produce electric vehicles.
The Charger and Challenger models — iconic muscle cars in the 1960s and 1970s — were revived by Dodge in the early 2000s. Production of the muscle cars will end at the Brampton Assembly Plant in Ontario, Canada, in December of 2023.
“We are celebrating the end of an era — and the start of a bright new electrified future — by staying true to our brand,” Tim Kuniskis, Dodge brand chief executive officer of Stellantis, said in a statement.
To give the models a proper send off, Dodge is releasing seven special “heritage-influenced” models for next year. The seventh and “final” 2023 Dodge model will be revealed at the 2022 SEMA Show in Las Vegas in November.
The move by Dodge comes as major automakers are moving away from traditional gas-powered cars to electric vehicles to curb harmful carbon dioxide emissions. Electric vehicles are steadily increasing their market share in the U.S., accounting for about 4 percent of all car sales in 2020 and growing to more than 5 percent in 2021.
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