Looking at the 2025 Dodge Avenger on STLA Medium—if it’s coming

STLA Large is more a combination of modules than a traditional platform; it is intended to combine everything from the old Dodge Challenger or conceivably a Dodge Intrepid to a Grand Cherokee and minivan.  STLA Medium is not quite as diverse or ambitious, but it still covers a pretty wide variety of car sizes and types—from 71 to 75 inches wide, from 169 to 193 inches long… as long as they are front wheel drive based.

The platform will definitely influence any future replacement for the Dodge Avenger—and there is very likely going to be one, though Sergio Marchionne ran away [figuratively] screaming from front-drive sedans. It’s still a serious market if your company name is Toyota or Honda; and while GM is finally dropping the Chevy Malibu, the upcoming second-generation Bolt may well have a sedan form. What’s more, Chrysler at least has shown two concept sedans. Finally, given the flexibility of the Brampton plant and the STLA Medium platform, a sedan would likely not be as expensive to add into the mix.

The idea behind STLA is to have the basic chassis stay the same across cars and crossovers, wearing different “top hat” bodies, a bit like body-on-frame designs. A Dodge Avenger is certainly not out of the question. So what would it look like?

Power would almost certainly come via batteries tied to an electric motor and a 1.6 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine coupled to a hybrid electric setup. Battery power could be as high as 388 hp, which would definitely put the Avenger into the muscle arena despite its likely heavy weight. A 2.0 4xe powertrain option might be optional; but the 1.6 liter engine goes up to 201 hp and 203 lb-ft of torque in current form without a hybrid. The hybrid system used in Europe now produces either 296 or 360 hp. Given that the old Dodge Avenger had respectable acceleration with its 292 hp V6, this would give the new car some credibility, even if it won’t be racing Hellcats any time soon.

The interior is likely to be about the same size as the old Avengers, but the transmission would probably be a dual-clutch automated manual system. The electric version may not have a multispeed transmission at all, and if it does, it would probably just be a two-speed. The engine would be made in the United States; the transmission is a good question.

It’s also possible that the Avenger will never come to fruition under that name; it’s quite possible that the company will apply the Dodge Hornet name to a variation of the next-generation Jeep Compass (to be built at Brampton on STLA Medium with this powertrain), and continue to ignore Dodge front wheel drive sedans. It will take a year or less to find out.