Like that one week your best friend miraculously started for the high school football team, the Dodge Hornet is having a tough time out there. And in the car industry, one rule holds true—when the going gets tough, the prices get going.
Dodge has sold just 1,045 Hornets over the last 45 days. Almost 15,000 remain in dealer lots right now. Right now, that means there is a full 646 days worth of supply just sitting around. As a guide, a popular car, like the Toyota Camry, might only have 30 days supply at best.
What does that mean? It means a bunch of dealers are sick of that Dodge compact SUV sitting on their lot. They want it gone to make space for cars that are actually gonna move, so they’re slashing prices. They’re going so hard, in fact, that you can now get a turbo AWD SUV for Nissan Versa money.
Git ‘Er Gone
Of the Dodge Hornets currently out there, plenty are 2024 models, but a ton of 2023 models are still sitting around too. These are the ones that dealers are most keen to shift. The nuttiest deal I could find was over at David Stanley Dodge in Oklahoma City, OK. As per Cars.com, the dealership is selling a 2023 Dodge Hornet GT Plus AWD for just $26,225. That’s a full $11,600 below MSRP!
For that money, you’re getting a compact SUV with a 2.0-liter turbocharged engine good for 268 horsepower. And you can tell all your friends it’s really an Alfa Romeo underneath! That’s pretty cool, right?
That’s a particularly good deal if you like the Hornet, but it’s not the only one out there. Cook Chrysler Dodge Ram over in Maryland has a 2023 Dodge Hornet GT for $26,500, a full $7,170 under MSRP. There’s a black one in Central Florida for $5,000 off, too, and another in North Carolina for $7,812 under sticker.
2024 models aren’t immune, either. David Stanley Dodge has a 2024 model too, and they’re keen to get rid of it. You can have their 2024 Hornet GT for $10,100 under sticker, because it’s currently listed at just $22,230. As promised, that’s Nissan Versa money right there. Interestingly, the model had cash on the hood from the outset. It was listed at $1,500 under MSRP when it first hit Cars.com in November last year. If you want a higher-end model, you can get a 2024 Hornet GT Plus for $6,470 off if you’re shopping in Virginia. 
I’ve saved the best for last, though. So far, we’ve looked at the GT models, which have the turbocharged 2.0-liter engine. The 2024 model year introduced the hybrid models, which pair a 1.3-liter turbo engine with an electric motor and a 15.5 kWh battery pack. Total combined output is a healthy 285 hp, which will send the Hornet R/T sprinting to 60 mph in around 5.5 seconds.
If you want the peachiest deal, head down to Diehl of Moon down in Pennsylvania. They’ve listed a 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T for just $26,455—a full $15,843 under MSRP. They’ve been trying to shift this thing all year, and they’re clearly getting sick of it. Maybe they just really hate the Blue Bayou finish. Who knows?
Oh wait, it can’t be that, because they’ve got another one in Acapulco Gold at almost $17,000 off. That’s truly bonkers for a car with only delivery mileage on the clock. It looks sharp in that color, no? I just wish they’d offered some flat colors, too. I reckon it would pop more than the metallics.
It’s not just Diehl, though. I’m spotting these things all over the country. Missouri, California, Connecticut – take your pick.
Whoa, Nelly
What you’re seeing is supply and demand in action. Dealers have a ton of supply. So much so, that if Dodge stopped making Hornets right now, they’d have enough cars to last for almost two years of sales at current rates.
The Hornet simply isn’t finding a customer base. Early technical issues haven’t helped its reputation. This may have scared a lot of people off, particularly if they also heard that it was based on an Alfa Romeo. Discovering the new compact Dodge is really an Italian car at heart doesn’t do a lot to inspire confidence.
I think it’s a little sad, in some respects. I’m driving an Alfa Romeo Tonale this week, the car that Dodge so lazily rebadged for itself. It’s kinda neat, and feels really nice inside. But it also doesn’t really feel Italian in the way I’d hoped it would, given this is my first Alfa. You’ll hear more about that later. In any case, if you told me this was a Dodge from the outset, I’d be pretty blown away at how smooth and sophisticated it feels. Plus, I wouldn’t be sorry it didn’t have a screaming V6 that sang like Ariana Grande.
Can Dodge turn this one around? Boy, I don’t know. Price cuts aren’t really shifting these things. Look at the pricing history on Cars.com and you’ll see dealers have tried time and again to shave a few thousand off to get these moving.
Dodge needs to pull a rabbit out of the hat to make these things irresistible. What that looks like, I don’t know. But until it figures something out, you can score a hell of a deal on a Hornet pretty much anywhere in the United States right now. Happy hunting.
Image credits: Dodge, Stellantis, Cars.com via screenshot
For more fun did a search on my local Dodge dealership. Many new Hornets all at over $40K. So I said to myself, Self give them a call. I did got a salesman explanation I read online about the poor sales and that Hornets were selling for the mid to high 20s. He had the audacity to explain to me the dealership doesn’t set the prices the manufacturer does. I found this so funny I thanked him for making my day laughed heartily and hung up. I should not name name the Dodge dealer that covers tri cities in and around Indiana PA. SO I WON’T.
Just for fun did a local search. Found a Used 2023 GT with 7,000 miles for $35,000. This is a good way to eliminate bad dealers without even visiting.
Now are these discounts off MSRP or are they off MSRP with dealer mark up because we can? I can’t imagine it would sell for over $40K. The discount seems to be just the proper price without a discount. But notice dealers aren’t really advertising the best low selling deals. I mean where could they advertise it. Every car is posted on FB no matter what.
the discounts are actually off MSRP. I recently saw a comparison between many compact CUVs (Hornet included) and they cited a $40K MSRP for a Hornet GT Plus loaded.
Many of the competition was hovering that price (RAV4, CR-V, Sportage and so on)
As I mentioned many hornets near me still $40k so no much needed discount
Dodge: “Ok so… what if we just make a car that looks like a Dart got stung by a bee? We could call it the Hornet!”
The GTs are pretty doudy looking and gives the perception of being worth only around $30k.
Yeah, the engine’s punchy but your average compact CUV buyer couldn’t care less. They prioritize comfort, space, and convenience which the Hornet lacks. Marketing the Hornet on its performance credentials falls on deaf ears just as much as those old Dodge Dart commercials did.
Maybe If Dodge quickly pivoted and offered an SXT trim at Hyundai Tuscon prices outfitted with a typical mediocre compact CUV engine and avoided the temptation of cramming a CVT into it, they’d sell many more of them.
Just took a look, and my local Dodge dealer (one of the worst dealers in our area to be fair) has the el cheapo wheels model listed at 34k, and the R/T as high as, I’m not joking here, 52k.
They deserve to have a lot full of Hornets from now until eternity.
These look so freaking dowdy in the trim that comes with the small wheels sunken way inside the wheel wells.
They should bring back the gray plastic colored bumpers like it is a base model Geo Metro.
That Hornet have a/c standard? Rear defroster?
Y’know what? That wouldn’t actually be a bad idea. The fender flares and rub guards on the bumpers are already like that. Cut the bumper below the weird tumour scuba vent and make all that rough black and it would actually lessen the visual weight that causes the headlights to make the front end look like a fat squinting hog. They really should’ve made the hood have less of a gradual slope so that there was more above the headlights…
Side effect: some Hornet owners might believe they own a “Trail ready” SUV because of gray bumpers and side skirts, and might venture off the asphalt, just to fail miserably
Unintended ruggedness
There must’ve been a glitch in the Matrix a few weeks ago. I saw two of these less than a minute ago apart, both in black.
The Hornet should have priced in this range right out of the gate! It’s been my biggest complaint that this car is wildly overpriced.
instead of the dealers marking down huge rebates on these cars, Dodge needs to reestablish this model as the entry level car at an entry level price that it was designed to be. Who the hell would spend $10K more on this over a Chevy Traxx?
Don’t get me wrong. The Hornet is not a bad car. In fact, it was the car that I was going to buy for my son before they released the price. At roughly $40K (with a Chrysler family retiree discount) I said absolutely no fucking way. We bought a slightly used Giulia instead and saved $15K.
The Hornet is a crap car, they wrote an entire article about it.
“They”
“They” as in the Autopian, da. Didn’t feel like finding the writer.
It doesn’t matter how much you save, it’s still a Dodge Hornet.
Honestly f@&k Stellantis. The corporate culture of this company makes GMs look like a picnic in the park. They blatantly only care about making profit for themselves and the shareholders at all cost. If that includes killing every brand they touch then so be it. How come every brand they have is in the shit but the executives are rolling? At least GM and Ford pretend they care about cars and their brands sometimes
GM just comes across innocently as incompetently managed.
Ford, however, has been focused on SUV margins for ages. That’s their SOP.
FCA/Stellantis OTOH feels malicious.
They all are profit motivated at least Stellantis is honest about it. I mean if you catch your partner cheating on you do you want them to lie (GM), blame you (Ford) or just be honest (Stellantis)? You’re getting screwed no matter what.
Technically, in your example, it’s not you who is getting screwed 😉
Correct it is anyone buying from an auto manufacturer
I was referring to the “partner cheating on you” comment.
It’s really who is getting boned not sure what point you are making
It was just supposed to be a joke. Nevermind.
My bad no issues
Can’t make a profit if you can’t move the metal. A properly built, properly priced product would be earning much more for them than this turd.
> properly built
Are we still talking about Stellantis?
Started seeing a few of these around lately and I wonder if the big price drops are why. At $26k, it’s probably better than a Rogue, but damn does it look cheap. Took me a minute to realize those flat, silver wheels aren’t wheel covers.
They’re actually pretty good cars; nice interiors, lots of power and features, and styling that stands out but stupidly overpriced, especially when you consider the Dodge dealership experience.
The Stellantis marketing department should all be exiled to Siberia over stealing Alfa Romeo’s newest offering into a hot segment and lazily slapping their badge and grill on it. Dodge buyers want burly sedans, coupes and SUVs and look at Alfa Romeo like Ricky Bobby looks at Sacha Baron Cohen’s Jean Girard in Talladega Nights. Potential Alfa Romeo buyers don’t want a product associated withe Dodge, so they managed to alienate two sets of demographics. Well done!
By far the most impressive thing about the Hornet is how it managed to feel like an also-ran in an entire segment of also-rans. It’s all the problems of Alfa Romeo ownership with none of the prestige.
I have seen zero of these in real life (and apparently I’m not the only one), so this isn’t surprising. But I’d also take those substantial discounts with a grain of salt. In my experience the Stellantis brands love to list prices with stacked incentives about .01% of the population would qualify for all together.
The only ones I’ve seen have been lined up on the lot of the local Dodge dealer. And they have plenty
My local dealer has some with a straight $9k dealer discount, not incentives available to retired firefighters who served from 1988-1998.
Historically, you would be correct about Stellantis pricing discounts being stacked. However, a year ago I saw a 2023 Gladiator listed for 7K off MSRP. Being in the market, I went to the dealer. I asked for the online price for the gladiator (39K for a 46K MSRP). Amazingly, they said “ok”. I was trading in my car, I asked for $9.5K (a fair trade in valuation for the vehicle and a price I felt good about). Amazingly, they said “yes”. I ended up with a new Gladiator and was out the door in 90 minutes.
Maybe the times have changed.
I’ve seen quite a few in SoCal and on a recent trip to Florida. You have to remember that the US is a very big and diverse place, and the automotive ecosystems varies greatly.
I priced one out out of curiosity – heated seats show as optional, on a $40k car, *in Canada*. A $17k Mitsubishi Mirage has heated seats standard up here, so cheaping out that bad isn’t a good look, even if I doubt you’d find a Hornet in dealer stock without the Cold Weather package (at an extra $1000). In general, Stellantis seems to have gotten a bit greedy, as for a while, it looks like they weren’t selling anything under $40k.
Dealer in Edmonton has some for $79000.00
I couldn’t imagine paying over $40k for one of these.
You think that’s bad, a Fiat 500X (you know, the little thing with a three-cylinder) also starts at $40k CAD. $40k for a white trash Alfa is a little less bad, although still seems like too much of a risk to justify.
Tavares’s pay package isn’t going to grow itself.
Stellantis surely by now must be getting the message that selling re-badged Fiats isn’t really working for them in the US. So just stop.
what an ignorant comment, which fiat is this rebadged from? enlighten me
What an ignorant response. Spend like 2 seconds on Google and you’d find its based off of the Fiat Tonale:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_Tonale#Dodge_Hornet
Same fucking difference. Just another rebadged Italian pierce of crap.
Thats crazy that you cant read. Its an alfa romeo tonale. You *could have* said it was on a Fiat platform which would’ve been partially true as it shares platform with a 500x but that was an FCA developed platform for several cars. I’d have to imagine that was a bit too much thinking for you, though.
You know…. you don’t have to be a prick. But whatever. Its a rebadged car made out of a bunch of thrown together shit from some Italian companies. No difference. It’ll fall apart just as rapidly regardless
What you mean to say is that like every other multinational automotive megacorp with several automotive brands under their umbrella, they leverage their portfolio of technologies, platforms and drivetrains to develop new products for efficiency of scale. This is especially prevalent in modern times when customers care more about branding and lifestyle projection than the oily bits underneath. Literally every car company does it.Your jeers about reliability and lack of longevity are ill founded, but inexplicably that’s the tribe you picked and the hill you want to die on, even though I can almost guarantee you’ve never had any first hand experience with any Alfa Romeo product.
You’re just angry because you’re Italian and don’t like hearing that Italian cars are just as shitty as they were back when they tried to sell them here in the 70’s. I get it. It no fun hearing that. Get over it.
Not angry in the least, just pointing out your basic automotive tribalism not founded on anything more than your outdated perception or misinformed opinion. It always baffles me why people get so upset about things they don’t know much about or that even affect them. I guess it makes you feel good to spout snark. Also, do some learnin’ about other cultures and languages so you realize my name is not Italian.
Oh I wasn’t upset. To me this is fun!
Dude… If I’m picking sides here, you were kind of being the prick by doubling down on your ignorant remark. Realize when you’re wrong about something.
Nah. I wasn’t being a prick. Sure- the badge says Alpha Romeo buts it mostly made out of Fiat parts.
Are you the guy who tries to explain how his weaknesses are actually disguised strengths when interviewing for a job?
Nope. More like the guy who has the house on the coast paid off, pretty much set for retirement and had a successful career and thus no need to interview for further jobs. I enjoyed your intentionally cheeky response. But unfortunately it didn’t apply to me. Ohhhhhhh Physceeeeee!
Pray tell me. Do you have any further little nuggets? Because I do so much want to hear them.
What’s a Physce?
Go away
Are you? Where are you going?
Bro can’t even copy and paste “Alfa Romeo”. Yeah, your POV is legit
Bro, like how old are you? 18? Either way, keep responding! You know you can’t help it
If ifs and butts were candy and nuts, oh what a party we’d have
Alfa Romeo is not Fiat, but OK
Whats the difference? The guts are Fiat. Either way like the ole’ country song goes…. ” I’ve got a troll by the tail its plain to see”. So keep on responding for the sake of my free entertainment
Just checked my Local Dodge dealer’s website. They have no 2023’s available but the 2024’s are still going for (mostly) full price. For example – 2024 Hornet R/t for $40,946 or a 2023 Challenger R/t in Plum Crazy for $39,231. I think I know which Id rather have
THIS!
This comment jut proved my point. Refer to my comment about pricing.
Yes a Toyota Camry.
I’ve seen one in the wild.
With Dodge’s customer base this seems like it’s the answer to a question no one asked.
I saw one at the local golf course, it stood out and looked really nice. For 40k no way, for 26k sign me up for some Italian pain.
But yea, people who buy commuter appliance SUV’s don’t want unreliability unless it says Land Rover on the front at which point they get a dealer loaner so who cares.
The local Dodge dealer had a contest where the grand prize was a free 2-year lease on a Hornet. At least it was better than the second-place prize, a free 3-year lease on a Hornet.
Man, they sure succeeded at making the exterior of these things look cheap. I know that $23 (or $33k) one isn’t the high-line model, but holy poverty spec. Are there roll up windows inside?
And I just built an R/T Plus to see if I could make it look good. Only dark gray and black wheels available. It looks terrible. Give me some polished wheels to go with the Steele Blue exterior.
But hey, something that cannot be said for just about anything else I pretend build, a local dealer has one. Almost exactly the $54k Hornet R/T Plus I built in Steele Blue, except it doesn’t have the red interior. Apparently no Hornets in my area have the red interior. And I must say the black with red “accents” interior looks terrible as well. Very cheap. Only $6k off though, for $48k I can do a lot better.
Cheap and old. This looks like it could have been released at the same time as the current Durango, which was what, 2010, 2011?
Some dealers try to sell cars of the future before its time (EVs) and some try to sell cars after their time is over (Hornet) all try to sell it for too much. They don’t realize the demand over supply is over. Now they have to sell them for what they are worth. And they used poor materials and construction so still not selling for low enough. You want a good deal avoid the poor build high cost union labor vehicles.
I saw my first Hornet in traffic yesterday. That’s far too rare for a mass market vehicle on sale for 2 years.
I’ve seen at least two Ineos Grenadiers rolling around.
The most hilarious part of this is that they thought they could charge $45,000 for these stupid things in the first place. You can get into a goddamn X3, RDX, or lightly used Macan for that much money. Also, the launch has been an unmitigated disaster. The ads might as well be satire (has anyone else seen the homoerotic BROTHERHOOD OF MUSCLE ACCEPTING THE MUSCULAR FEATURES OF THE HORNET one?!). As is always the case with Stellantis/Alfa there have been a veritable plethora of issues with the Hornet/Toenail that go way beyond first gen car stuff.
The idea of getting a spicy PHEV CUV for like $30,000 is somewhat enticing…until you hop on the forums and see what all the owners have been dealing with so far. Honestly you’d have to pay me $30,000 to willingly subject myself to one of these.
Just get a damn RAV4 or CRV hybrid if you want an affordable small SUV…and if it’s driving verve you crave in your lifted hatch just go find one of my car while they’re still out there. Unfortunately they’re already being lost to the tuner wars and I’m already seeing KONA NS ARE CHEAP AND UNDER-APPRECIATED videos on YouTube, so oddly enough prices are creeping back up a bit. But you can still find non hooned examples for under $30,000.
TBF, when was the last time Dodge marketing wasn’t satire? I can recall the original Dodge Nitro ads being an unintentionally hilarious byproduct of Cerberus thinking that they should split Chrysler Group sales by gender, and it definitely goes back further than that
Valid! And even the weird homoerotic Hornet ads aren’t as bad as the new Charger intro video where the CEO steps out and removes his sunglasses…then proceeds to go back in time and successfully convince the Dodge brothers that EVs are valid and totally muscular as hell, bro!
If their marketing is self aware then it’s hilarious…the issue is that it doesn’t seem to be. At all. Not even a little bit.
Also: there are 446 Hornets within 75 miles of my zip code and most of them are still listed within spitting distance of MSRP lmao. Fucking dealerships.
It’s not even the same Dodge Brothers as the first run of commercials!
Those guys were cool (met them at a Viper event and got a picture)
I’m legitimately interested in a straight 6 powered Charger sedan…but the marketing and general crowd that gravitates towards such tomfoolery is so overwhelmingly cringy that it leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The marketing may stick around for a bit, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see the crowd shift somewhat.
Such a shift would require the product to appeal to more than just the muscle car crowd. As far as it being an EV is concerned, it’s DOA. The range, charging, powaaaa, etc. just isn’t competitive and they made the damn things absolute pigs.
I’m sure they’ll move a few of them and get a few curious owners to trade in for them, but it just isn’t a particularly compelling product. The straight 6 ones are a bit more interesting. I’m sure some of the “muh V8” crowd will shun them, but others might find the engine appealing or better than going electric.
Where things get interesting is the tuner crowd and folks that appreciate European sports sedans. That engine is very tuning friendly out of the box and if they can offer it at 600ish horsepower from the factory there’s more to be wrung out in the aftermarket. I also like German cars but don’t like owning them. The thought of a RWD, inline 6 car that doesn’t come with all the extra expenses of a BMW is mighty appealing to me.
As is a muscle sedan. My wife hates muscle cars and the culture around them (some of her gripes are valid, some aren’t)…but one that’s a liftback sedan? That form factor is simply too good. There’s no argument against it. Really I’m just waiting to see how much the damn things weigh. If it’s 5,000+ pounds I’m out. If it’s the low to mid 4s and can be had well equipped in the 40-60 range I could probably be convinced to heavily consider one as my next vehicle.
Chrysler, Fiat, and now Stellantis have done their best to kill Dodge in the most Harley Davidson of manners. If it doesn’t scream “toxic masculinity” and have a V8, it’s not going to sell. Add in the fact that Chrysler product quality is straight up infamous, and you have basically no one wanting to buy a “normal” car from these brands
Honestly, I’m fully expecting them to bring the V8 back in few years time. I like what we’ve seen of the the new Charger a lot, but I don’t see how it’s going to appeal to what’s historically been Dodge’s core audience – as obnoxious as the bulk of them are. You don’t leave that money hanging on the tree for long, no matter what your intentions may be.
Nah, the brands themselves are dying almost as fast as the V8. Full EV adoption may not be around the corner, but the V8 is a dead man walking
Counterpoint: seeing how Ford, Mercedes-AMG, and Porsche brought back/or have stated intentions to bring back V8s for their performance models in large part due to how lukewarm of a reception their replacements received, I could see it happening, assuming Dodge doesn’t die before the decade is up (which I highly doubt). It will probably be solely for the upper-market trims akin to what the others are doing, unless things get so desperate for them that they just revert completely to form.
GM is currently in development of the next gen small block v8. I’d say yeah it looks like the v8s days are numbered but it’s not impossible to make them compliant. Most mainstream manufacturers just don’t want to spend the development money.
yea, my guess is they’ll be reserved for utility vehicles and possibly (possibly) very special and expensive limited sports car releases
I recently had PHEV version of this as a rental car in SoCal on a vacation. Because I had also recently purchased a Sportage PHEV, I was doing some obvious side by side comparisons. Personally, I am a small car/hatchback guy, but this thing was cramped even for my tastes. It had a few nice things like the adaptive cruise, a little pep, and wireless CarPlay, but overall, for the money Dodge wanted, it was a great disappointment. I’ll give it a pass that when I received it, the whole infotainment system was in Italian, which required more effort than necessary to change. BUT UConnect is garbage. The screen is small, and UConnect takes up precious pixels on this small screen for no reason. The paddle shifters were obtrusive and constantly got knocked while driving at highway speeds on accident because the damn paddles don’t turn with the wheel. They’re stationary on the rack. Visibility sucks out the back windows as well. The “safety” features like lane departure are far too aggressive
The dumbest thing about it though was the extra horsepower button. The advertised 280hp is based on this dumb button you push for a 15 second boost of around 30hp extra power. It seems dumb. Just create a situation where the power is there…all the time. Ultimately, I am the target audience for this type of vehicle. The vehicle was wildly overpriced for how it cheap it felt, and with the $15k off, it would still feel like it’s a bit overpriced. We need more PHEV’s, but they need to be better than this crap can AND priced better as well.
Paddles are “supposed” to be on the column and not the wheel, as an FYI
I dumb good. I kept hitting them with my knees and wanted a way to blame someone else for being bad with these things. Disregard that part of my critique. I WILL DIE ON THE OTHER HILLS IN MY CRITIQUE UNLESS PROVEN OTHERWISE. THEN I WILL FOLD IMMEDIATELY! (he says in William Wallace voice)
They should have a thin cable on the throttle that breaks when you want the extra power, like Wartime Emergency Power on an old fighter plane, followed by a pissed off crew chief and an engine rebuild (if you make it back).
> the extra horsepower button. The advertised 280hp is based on this dumb button you push for a 15 second boost of around 30hp extra power.
You’re joking.
https://www.dodge.com/hornet/performance.html
I wish I was…scroll to “R/T Performance Electrified”
“If you want top performance, this is the Dodge Hornet for you. This PHEV lets you terrorize the asphalt with a top speed of up to 128 mph, reach up to 60 mph in just 5.6 seconds and get up to 383 pound-feet of torque. Get a boost of up to 30 horsepower with the available Segment-Exclusive PowerShot feature
—for a total of 288 horsepower—and go the distance with electric all-wheel drive. This is the Hornet that changes the game. Meet the Most Powerful PHEV CUV.”