Dodge has an interesting lineup in the US right now, but a limited one. You’ve pretty much just got the Hornet and Durango until the new Charger drops. In other markets, though, Dodge has a more varied offering. It’s now set to bring a new sedan to the Chinese market, albeit from an unusual source.
You might not have heard of the existing Dodge Attitude, but you’re probably more familiar with it than you think. It’s simply a rebadged version of the Mitsubishi Mirage G4 sedan. It let Dodge rack up some sales in the compact sedan market down south without investing its own hard-earned money.
Of course, the Mirage is on the way out, so what is Dodge to do? Well, it’s looking east once more, but not quite as east as last time. Because China is less east than Japan, get it? Good.
¡EN EXCLUSIVA! ????????
Han salido a la luz las primeras imágenes de lo que sería el completamente nuevo #DodgeAttitude… ¿Qué les parece?
Se trata de un producto resultado de la alianza de la firma estadounidense con GAC. pic.twitter.com/PfNAWgrHaZ
— AutoDinámico (@autodinamicomx) July 1, 2024
As covered by Carscoops, The new 2025 Dodge Attitude has quite the aggressive design. It’s got chunky front intakes and a muscular hoodline. The grille is very much in line with Dodge’s modern design language, but don’t be fooled. Take in the broader elements and you’ll quickly realize this is no true Dodge. In fact, it’s a Trumpchi!
The Trumpchi Empow was introduced in 2021, and intended to be a vaguely sporty sedan for the Chinese market. It’s also known as the GAC Empow in other markets where it’s sold directly by GAC Group, Trumpchi’s parent company.
The Empow is quite a handsome thing. It’s got clean, muscular lines paired with an angular face that says “angry boy racer, grr.” Meanwhile, under the hood, it’s blessed with a 1.5-liter engine packing 168 horsepower and 199 pound-feet of torque. That’s paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission driving the front wheels. It’s not a whole lot compared to some of the bonkers hot compacts of today, but it’s enough to put some pep in the Empow’s step. It’ll do zero to 60 mph in 7 seconds flat.
The Dodge version is expected to be largely the same, as per AutoCosmos, albeit with a tweaked front end and a nice little spoiler on the rear. What is clear is that it’s a big upgrade over the outgoing model. The current Mirage-based Dodge Attitude has just 76 horsepower in comparison, and is considered a fairly spartan, basic vehicle by modern standards. The current 2024 model starts at $275,400 pesos, or roughly $14,175 USD. Expect the new GAC-based model to land somewhere in that range, perhaps higher—given the new model’s increased power and sophistication.
This isn’t the first time Dodge has turned to foreign partners to fill out its lineup. The American brand has been selling the GAC GS5 as the Dodge Journey in Mexico for some time now. It’s also worth noting that prior to Mitsubishi stepping up to deliver the Dodge Attitude, the model was previously based on the RB-model Hyundai Accent.
The sad thing is that Dodge isn’t bringing the cool version of the Empow to Mexico. Back in China, the Trumpchi Empow R 400T is the hot model at the top of the tree. It boasts a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine good for 261 horsepower and 295 pound-feet of torque, paired with an 8-speed automatic. It’s not the sportiest drivetrain out there, but it’s got some real poke, and it looks the business, too. Oh, and it’ll do zero to 60 mph in 5.7 seconds.
In any case, cars are still dead in America. Don’t expect Dodge to bring a hot compact sedan, Chinese or otherwise, to the US market anytime soon. Instead, save your pennies for the pending Charger Daytona EV, or grab yourself one of those Dodge Hornets that are cluttering up dealerships all over the country.
Image credits: Dodge
“ Dodge has an interesting lineup in the US right now, but a limited one. You’ve pretty much just got the Hornet and Durango until the new Charger drops.”
That doesn’t sound interesting at all.
I’m impressed by the chinese car having a 7-speed dual-clutch, that’s a marked improvement over most cars sold here with their sad slushboxes.
And I’m sure it can’t be as terrible as Ford’s sad attempt at one 🙂
As long as they didn’t do a dry-clutch setup like Ford chose, it’ll probably be fine.
This thing is the most beautiful regular car I’ve seen in the last at least 10 years – sort of in-between designer midlife-crises BMWs, like post-Bangle and pre-beaver tooth.
It has all the right curves and edges where they have to be, it has the correct stance, is bending the right way and is not trying to prove anything.
Maybe a bit of a second to last gen (pre-current brand new latest) Camry sport-ish, which is a compliment.
If this thing makes it this side of the border and doesn’t catch fire or throw itself at walls, I’m getting it.
NOTE: I’m talking about the white one in the Twitter post. The other ones are shot at very weird angles.
This hits me with a mix of Sonata/Elantra and Nissan whatever for some reason. Definitely better than the Mirage, but then again, that’s a pretty easy feat
“Dodge has an interesting lineup in the US right now” An overpriced CUV with zero demand and an SUV that hasnt been updated in a decade and is old enough to vote = “interesting” got it
Compared to Chrysler…
“Ya got yer Minivan, and ya got yer Hybrid Minivan”
Yeah, it’s more interesting.
I read somewhere that “interesting is a word critics use when they haven’t got a clue.”
Thats.. surprisingly good looking
You mean there’s no car in the Stellantis portfolio that could have done the job? They had to go outside the company for it?
Apparently! Can’t think of a small sedan off the top of my head.
But then surely Vauxhall has something or someone else, right?
They had the gall to call that thing the “Attitude”.
Trumpchi Empow sounds like what you might find in a comic book.
“Trumpchi!” “Empow!”
Dodge Attitude SRT yo 😛
And yeah, they should sell it up here, including the convertible.
Dodge Mexico also used to sell the Hyundai Atos under the name Dodge Atos
This is what happens when the Chinese build something Hyundai inspired, but then decide to give it a lux vibe by adding a Lexus back end.
At the end of the day you have a fancy ass Hyundai knockoff.
Per Reuters, this is the origin of Trumpchi – “GAC Motor had begun using, “Chuanqi”. That name, loosely translated, means “legendary” in Chinese, and it’s something the automaker wanted to convey in a more easily pronounced way, choosing “Trump” for, well, trumping the competitors. They tacked on the “chi” ending to stand for China.”
I’m curious if they’re having buyers regret on that name choice now.
We can propose a Bidenchi or a Harrischi name change to them…. ?
Also terrible…
That’s a bad Attitude.
I was a little confused by the opening paragraph. Are they bringing a new sedan to the Chinese market, or the Mexican market? I mean, it’s coming from China, right?
This is just pathetic and sad. We’ve gotten to this insane level of badge engineering.
The front end looks like the Evo X got the “Wanna know how I got these scars??” treatment there
Mexican Dodge sounds like an evasive border crossing maneuver.
Why is the design of every single Chinese automobile so blatantly derivative?
Because they are appliances. All of them.
What a blattantly derivative answer 😛
Because their senses are not dulled by the current beaver teeth and how-can-I-impress-you-with-ugliness design that is so pervasive and equivalent to the junk-food trained design palates that most people have developped lately in our neck of the woods.
My friends actually love how their iX looks. They proudly show it to me every time. I nod and learn to love it because I love them.
But why can’t they make an original design? They’re all so derivative.
I was behind a Hornet on my way into work today.
1/2 the light bar on the back hatch wasn’t working.
Can’t beat that Stellantis build quality!
That means half of it was working! Woohoo!
Hey, what do you expect from a small crossover that’s only $6,000 more expensive than a Hyundai Tucson? Quality control is expensive, Stellantis isn’t made of money
Good enough for
government workStellantis.So you are saying the new chargers will only have half working batteries then? Hah
Meh, I’ve seen that on new Audis, so…
It looks like if someone asked AI to design a sports sedan and fed it an Audi, Jaguar, and Lexus IS. It creates a weird sort of uncanny valley effect…
Did Dodge forget to remove the Hyundai logo from their own marketing images?
I had to go back and look, yep they let it on! crazy
I had to do a little digging but it looks like they went a step further and SOLD THEM WITH HYUNDAI BADGES
No, they didn’t change them. Similar to when Ford sold the Grand Marquis in Mexico as a Ford but left the Mercury emblems unchanged. Hyundai didn’t have their own dealerships in Mexico until 2014, so it wasn’t like the badge was going to cause any real brand confusion
I’ve got a ham sandwich right here, and I’m waiting until Dodge is so desperate to unload Hornets that they’ll give me one for it.
I test drove one and you know what? It’s actually a pretty good crossover, but Stellantis royally screwed up its rollout by pricing it too high, so sales were glacially slow until they stared offering discounts, but by then the teenage snark of the internet had gained momentum, and dum dums associate slow sales with bad cars.
I can imagine they’d launch the performance model later on as a top trim or special edition. Either way, it’s a massive upgrade over the Mirage and even that ridiculously lazy rebadge of the Hyundai.