It really seemed as though 2024 would be the final model year for production of Hemi-powered Dodge products, but yesterday, the brand announced that the Durango production will continue into the 2025 calendar year with two of the three current Hemi V8 engine options. This includes the high volume 5.7-liter Hemi with 360 horsepower and the high performance 6.2-liter Hellcat Hemi with 710 horsepower.
“The Dodge Durango and the HEMI engine form a powerful pair, and Dodge will continue to produce the most powerful gas engine SUV on the planet into the 2025 calendar year,” said Matt McAlear, Dodge CEO – Stellantis. “It’s the perfect capstone for our celebration of 20 years of HEMI-powered Durango models.”
The press release also states that “Due in part to market demand and customer feedback, the brand’s three-row SUV will continue to roar with an available supercharged 6.2-liter HEMI Hellcat V-8 engine, producing 710 horsepower and 645 lb.-ft. of torque, as well as the 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 engine, standard on the Durango R/T and delivering 360 horsepower and 390 lb.-ft. of torque.” I suspect that the pending change in political leadership has an impact on this decision as well.
Over the course of the past few months, Dodge has introduced four special edition packages to celebrate the 20-year run of the Hemi-powered Durango, which was introduced back in 2004 with the 5.7-liter V8. Those packages are all labeled as 2025 model year vehicles, but many people presumed that they would be built during the 2024 calendar year for the 2025 model year. In other words, it was expected that production of the Hemi-powered models would be complete during the 2024 calendar year and those units would be sold during the course of 2025, but that is no longer the case.
Based on the details that are currently available, the Dodge Durango R/T with the 5.7-liter Hemi and the Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat with the supercharged 6.2-liter Hemi will continue to be produced in the coming months alongside the Durango GT, which is powered by the 3.6-liter Pentastar V6. It seems that the 6.4-liter Hemi in the Durango SRT 392 will no longer be produced, but that seems like a reasonable trade-off to have production of the Hellcat model extended.
This is all great news for those who have been saving up and planning to buy a Hemi-powered Dodge Durango in the next few months. It is not great news for those folks who bought a Durango as a collectible in the past years – especially in SRT Hellcat trim – but that is the risk you take when you you pay top dollar for a mass produced vehicle.
Patrick Rall is a professional writer and photographer with a passion for all things automotive. Having grown up in his father’s performance shop, he spent extensive time at the oval track and drag strip – both driving and wrenching on various types of vehicles. In addition to working as a writer, Patrick previously worked as an automotive technician before moving on to a business office position with a chain of dealerships, and this broad spectrum of experience in the industry allows him to offer a unique look on the automotive world. Follow Patrick on Twitter, Facebook and on Youtube.
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