The next-generation Dodge Charger is expected to shed nearly 500 pounds from its base curb weight and could come with a 300-hp, twin-turbo inline-four engine in development for the 2018 Jeep Wrangler, according to sources.
The new Charger, however, likely won't roll off the line in Brampton, Ontario, until early in the next decade, as Fiat Chrysler squeezes one more freshening from its aging L-series large cars, according to an insider with knowledge of FCA's product plan.
The Charger's overall length is expected to remain at about 198 inches when it switches from its current platform -- which dates to the Charger's return as a 2006 model -- to an extended version of the Giorgio platform that underpins the 2017 Alfa Romeo Giulia. Engineers and designers are working to slim its existing 3,960-pound curb weight down to around 3,500 pounds, the source said.
The Charger was last freshened for the 2015 model year. Through April, its U.S. sales were up 1.9 percent from the year-earlier period to 35,959. The source said Charger is scheduled to undergo one more minor freshening, expected for the 2019 model year, before switching to its new platform.
At a private show for dealers in August in Las Vegas, FCA showed an early styling buck of its next-generation Charger that was described by dealers as being reminiscent of a popular 1999 Charger concept car designed by Tom Gale, Chrysler's former styling chief.
