Dodge//SRT provided us with a lot of information yesterday, about the future of its 2023 L-Series car program. The L-Series, come to life in 2004 when the Dodge Magnum and Chrysler 300 Series were first introduced. It marked the return to V8-powered rear-wheel-drive (RWD) cars for the first time since the discontinuation of the 1989 Dodge Diplomat, that such a vehicle could be ordered at a Dodge dealer.
But after a 20-year run, Dodge is closing the doors the modern-HEMI era. The 2023 Dodge Challenger (LA) and Charger (LD) will be the last L-Series cars to offer HEMI power! Dodge CEO, Tim Kuniskis officially announced the news yesterday at the “Current Muscle” event part of Dodge Speed Weeks.
“The ’23 model year, Chargers and Challenger will be the last of the HEM-powered L-cars that we build,” Kuniski stated. “And when that window closes, there is NO reopening it. Production ends in December of ’23. You need to get your orders in now, or never. Because when the last HEMI Chargers and Challengers roll off the line at Brampton, its the end of an era.”
The news puts a kabash to the rumors of a future of the HELLCAT HEMI V8 in the next generation Challenger (LB) and Charger (LF). For sometime now, MoparInsiders.com sources have indicated that both internal combustion engine (ICE) and battery-electric vehicle (BEV) powertrains will be offered in the all-new cars due out in late-2023. Our sources have been stating that the ICE models will be powered by both the twin-turbocharged 3.0-liter Hurricane inline-six-cylinder engines in either standard-output (S.O.) and high-output (H.O.) configurations. There will also be multiple power levels of BEV options as well.
While the new Hurricane engines might sound great to some, true HEMI fans will be lined up to order their 2023 model year vehicles ASAP.
We have been told by Dodge, that ordering of the new 2023 model year cars should begin in October. Those initial orders will begin production on Monday, December 5th, 2022.
There has been a lot of concern about the possibility of huge markups on all-HEMI models due to the current state of the automotive industry. We reached out to Dodge to see what types of precautions the automaker is taking to make sure that customers aren’t being taken advantage of by dealers, but have yet to get a response from them before the writing of this article.
