The Dodge Durango Hellcat Lawsuit Saga Still Isn't Over

The Dodge Durango Hellcat Lawsuit Saga Still Isn’t Over

Do you remember when a number of 2021 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat owners filed a lawsuit against Stellantis for building another run of them? It’s understandable if you forgot. The lawsuit was filed more than two years ago. Apparently, it still hasn’t been sorted out. CarComplaints.com discovered that the suit had recnetly gone to mediation. That mediation didn’t work out, so the case goes on.

Dodge

Like many automakers, Dodge evolved from being a machine shop that supplied parts and assemblies in the early 1900s to a fully-fledged automaker. The Dodge brothers started building cars in 1914 under the ‘Dodge Brothers’ brand – the company was sold to Chrysler in 1928, originally producing trucks, full-sized passenger cars and compact cars. These days, the brand is known for performance cars like the iconic Charger and Challenger, sold under the Stellantis banner.

Founded: December 14, 1900
Founder: John Francis Dodge & Horace Elgin Dodge
Headquarters: Auburn Hills, Michigan, U.S.A
Owned By: Stellantis North America
Current CEO: Carlos Tavares

Stellantis Wants The Case Dismissed

According to court documents, the Hellcat owners and Stellantis had agreed to try a mediation process in October. The judge accepted that, and a mediation conference was set for December 10. According to a report filed at the start of January, the parties couldn’t come to an agreement.

What happens next isn’t completely clear. The case could go forward, but Stellantis is pushing to have the case dismissed. In the report about the mediation failing, the company references its arguments for dismissal filed well before the mediation decision. The company had an extensive list of arguments. It argued that it had never said only a specific number of Hellcats would be built, and that, although it said it would be built for one year, it didn’t say Durango Hellcats would never be built again. It also explained that the one-year statement was mainly because the company was not sure whether it would be able to build them in the future because of emissions requirements.

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Aside from reiterating that it said nothing fraudulent about the vehicle and its availability, Stellantis pointed to other reasons it believes it can’t be held liable. It noted that past court cases have not found companies liable for damages by producing additional runs of limited product after the original offering. Additionally, the owners had not provided any specific claims of monetary damages due to the additional model year produced. Even if they had, Stellantis said that it would be difficult to specifically couple the lost value to the additional SUVs built, and not due to the condition of the vehicle or other factors.

How We Got Here In The First Place

Back in 2020, Dodge announced it would drop the supercharged Hellcat V8 into the Durango SUV for the 2021 model year. The company said it would sell it for one year. While Dodge had expectations for how many would be built, it didn’t have a set number. In fact, it ended up selling about 50% more examples than it anticipated.

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The problem came about when Dodge announced in August 2022 that it would bring the Hellcat Durango back for at least one more year, which eventually continued through to the 2025 model year. Not long after the announcement of the 2023 run, a Hellcat customer voiced frustration at the additional run, claiming that he bought the vehicle partly as an investment and additional examples would hurt the value. That complaint turned into a full lawsuit the following spring. A few other owners signed on to the lawsuit, and arguments have gone back and forth. It all culminated in that mediation session in December, and now we wait to see if a judge accepts the arguments from Stellantis for dismissal, or if the lawsuit goes forward.

Source: United States District Court documents, CarComplaints.com

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