Why A Car Designer Thinks The Dodge Hornet Is Such A Lazy Rebadge Of The Alfa Romeo Tonale

Hornet Tonale Topshot 1
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The other night, as we all descended into Mercedes’ secret basement (accessible only by a correct sequence of pulls on various Smart door handles) and donned the ceremonial cloaks for the weekly Autopian World Domination  business meeting, I had an idea I thought I could raise after the Any Other Tail Lights part of the agenda. We should do awards, like those other hoity-toity magazines and websites. And I had a pretty good idea what our first award category should be: The Most Lazy-Assed Badge Engineering Job on Sale.

What hath wrought this staggering lighting bolt of journalistic integrity, you may ask? Gathered friends I have an answer. If you’ll indulge a bit of British colloquialism, bloody hell do I have an answer. If it pleases your honor, may I present Exhibit A: The newly released Dodge Hornet.

Dodge Hornet GLH
Photo credit: Dodge

“But Adrian, you’re from the Land of Badge Engineering, Great Britain,” you’re likely shrieking. And it’s true. Throughout the fifties, sixties and seventies as Austin Morris begat BLMC begat British Leyland, and oh god it’s so depressing, they pioneered the art of doing the absolute bare minimum to differentiate various nameplates.

Would you like your 1963 ADO16 as an Austin, Morris, Riley, MG, or a Wolseley? It happened because the British car manufacturing empire was imploding faster than it could find customers, and the government was forcing all these companies to consolidate. However, having gotten a taste for it, BL did it again in the seventies with ADO 71, which was an Austin, a Morris, a Wolseley, and in 1982 an Austin again, and I’m so very tired.

Ad071
Photo credit: British Leyland

Let’s back up slightly before we dive in. I’ve mentioned British Leyland, but they’re far from the only guilty parties. If ever there’s been an automotive screw up in the past, you can bet GM will have an example, so let’s have a look.

Gm Fortunecoverfinal
Photo credit: Fortune

In 1982, GM crimped out the J-car, its supposed import fighter. It appeared both sides of the pond with superficial trim and sheet metal changes. But that was merely leaving a fragrance in the little room for the main event, the 1982 A-bodies. They had even less differentiation, leading to a famous 1983 Fortune magazine cover, which lined up the offending turds side-by-side in the same “I drank too much red wine” color. Buick Century, Chevrolet Celebrity, Oldsmobile Cutlass and Pontiac 6000, and if they thought they could get away with it, there was probably a Corvette version mocked up somewhere inside the Tech Center as well.

That was the level of utter contempt GM was treating its customers with at the time. And you know what? Like BL, GM was hemorrhaging market share and consolidating its divisions in pursuit of cost savings. Now, there’s nothing wrong with badge engineering per se, you just have to be clever how you do it. The soon-to-be-flushed Buick Encore is an Opel (Vauxhall) Mokka with a tri-shield badge and not much else. But that doesn’t matter, because you can’t buy the Opel version in the US, and I can’t buy a Buick here in the UK.

Encore Vs Mokka
Photo credit: GM/Stellantis

But you will be able to buy an Alfa Romeo Tonale or a Dodge Hornet, and now we have the internet full of pictures and smart asses like me pointing out the differences. Or in this case, the complete lack of them. So let’s do that.

The news is not quite as grim at the front, because the Hornet does have a new hood stamping. Dodge would have had no choice in this, because you can see the Alfa hood contains a cut out shape for the roundel in the center. But other than that, it’s a case of new lights, a new front bumper, and not much else. In fact, the size and shape of the lamps is exactly the same on both cars because the underlying structure is identical. If you look at the large lower black grill on both cars, in the center at the bottom is a flat surface area. Behind this is most likely the active cruise sensor, so keeping this in the same position will have saved some recalibration work. It’s a bit harder to tell from the photos if the parking sensors (the little round guys) are in the same places but these attach to the bumper so they may have had some latitude to alter their position slightly (full disclosure: I am not an engineer).

Hornet Tonale Front Three Quarters
Photo credit: Stellantis

The shut lines between bumper and fender and hood and fender are an exact match up because, drum roll please (who is the musician around here?), as we move around to the side it’s underwhelmingly clear the sheet metal is exactly the same. You could unbolt the doors from the Tonale and bolt them straight on the Hornet (good news for David in about thirty years time). Even the mirrors are identical (or carry over, as we professionals say).

Hornet Tonale Side Profile
Photo credit: Stellantis

At the back, it’s a similar story to the front. Dodge had no choice but to make a new infill panel on the tailgate below the lights, because the original had a cutout for the roundel like the hood. The light graphic is different (although I expect the functionality is identical), but the rest is Tonale all the way. It’s only the lower cladding which has changed slightly; the rear reflectors remain in the same place which is a legal thing – homologate one and you’ve done both. The overall shape is very similar but the Hornet does away with the extraneous fake vent of the Alfa, reducing cost. Well, all that money they’ve saved they surely splashed it all over the interior, right? Right?

Hornet Tonale Rear
Photo credit: Stellantis

Now, slight caveat, I’m not an interior designer and have never worked on interiors (most designers specialize in one or the other. They do sometimes cross over, but not often), but it looks like the only thing that has been changed is the IP (instrument panel) upper. That is, the top piece of the entire dash across the width of the car. But although the vents are a different shape, the center screen and IP cluster are the same parts. The only other thing that looks to be ever so slightly altered is the start stop button on the steering wheel. Same pasta, very slightly different sauce.

Remember we joked about designers being lazy? I want to be absolutely clear that none of this is the designers fault. Designers do as they’re told, and I guarantee you the Auburn Hills guys were absolutely dying inside doing this. This is corporate fuckshamblery pure and simple, and I’ll explain why.

Hornet Tonale Interior
Photo credit: Stellantis

 

The Alfodge Hornale is going to be built at a Stellantis corporate plant in Pomigliano d’Arco, Naples, Italy. A production line can only handle a certain amount of complexity, which is why it’s not surprising there’s so little differentiation between the two cars. This leads us to another point; it makes a certain amount of sense on a financial spreadsheet. Doubtless some MBA type looked at the numbers and thought, Hey, we can make another car for minimal investment and plug a bit of a gap in the Dodge line up. But here’s the thing.

The Hornet is very clearly an Alfa Romeo and not a Dodge. Light graphics aside, nothing about the shape, surfacing or details shares any visual DNA with the rest of the Dodge line up. The swoopy C-pillar screams curvy Euro CUV and not downsized chiseled American attitude. Not only that, there are not that many media images of the Hornet available, which suggests they don’t want people doing what this article has just done, which really is the sort of shit GM would have tried forty years ago.

[Editor’s Note: I see the advantages of Dodge’s move, so I can’t really hate on it, though I’m not a designer. And Adrian is making some good points; I get why he’s worked up, and I kind of dig it. -DT]

Dodge and Alfa executives will argue that these cars are pitched at different parts of the market – the Alfa towards the premium end and the Dodge more accessible. But this is marketing bullshit – you’ve just admitted your premium Italian BMW alternative is cheap enough to be offered as a domestic American brand. And for those heartland American customers, the car is built in Italy, and doesn’t really look like a Dodge at all.

Somewhere in a C-suite in the Ren Cen, a bunch of executives are laughing and thinking, Man, Stellantis is trying the same stunt we didn’t get away with forty years ago! Aren’t they fucking stupid!

Lead photo credit: Stellantis

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139 thoughts on “Why A Car Designer Thinks The Dodge Hornet Is Such A Lazy Rebadge Of The Alfa Romeo Tonale

  1. I wonder how the reliability rates will hurt or help either one. Alfa isn’t exactly known for making reliable cars, on the other hand, Dodge/Chrysler doesn’t have a good standing either. Will anyone even notice any difference?

    As other’s have said, Alfa hasn’t really made good headway here in the US so I don’t see them selling a lot of Tonales. I would guess, they welcomed getting the car into a Dodge dealership to actually move some product.

    1. Brie Larson is pretty, but she is very far from my type.

      And I didn’t say either car wasn’t attractive, so don’t put words in my mouth.

  2. I can’t say I’m mad at all about this. Taking an upmarket brand and giving it a spot lower, where they can make it back in volume, is a sensible move if the lower market brand needs product and the upmarket product fits the financial equation. It’s not like they took a Chevy and slapped a Cadillac badge on it.

    The only problem I see is that the “downmarket car”, the Dodge Hornet, is the far better looking car. Any car without an embedded urinal in the grille looks far better than a car with an embedded urinal in the grille. Even the interior of the Dodge looks much more coherent and thoughtful than the Alfa.

    This is a problem, and it’s a badge engineering problem, but it’s not the same problem as usual.

    1. I’m not mad, I’m just disappointed. I want Alfa Romeo to succeed and I don’t think giving their much heralded new car to Dodge is the way to do it.

      Likewise I want Dodge to do well but this just feels like a quick stop gap measure so at least they have something in the segment.

      1. In the US, the brand equity of Alfa Romeo is negative. It would cost far more to redefine Alfa as something desirable than it would to be to just relabel all their stuff as Dodge and Chrysler to sell it as fast as they can import it.

        Alfa Romeo’s reputation among non-gearheads and even regular gearheads who aren’t Europhiles really is that bad. Selling badge engineered Alfas will strengthen Alfa as a platform engineering company and keep its self-branded products available in Europe and other markets where they are desirable.

        Alternately, they’d also be better off making Alfa a sub-brand of Chrysler, like Toyota was considering with Prius and Scion. American (North and Central American) product would be just Chrysler, and Italian made products would be Chrysler Alfa or Chrysler by Alfa Romeo. This would also strengthen the Alfa brand, and allow for later spin-off in North America if the Chrysler Alfas proved to be the more desirable Chryslers over time.

        If I had a strong desire for the Alfa brand to succeed independently, I might feel differently. But I’d take a 4C with a Chrysler or Dodge grille over the original every single day of the week, even if I had to pay extra for it. Alfa Romeo is too attached to a specific (terrifically ugly) style element for me to care how they import their stuff. I just want them to send their good stuff over in a form that will sell well instead of worrying so much about “staying visually true to the brand”. Because staying visually true is part of what’s limiting them. It’s why I never shopped a 4C, Stelvio or Giulia, even though I was impressed by a ride in a friend’s Stelvio.

        I do want Alfa Romeo to continue existence because of their engineering skill, not for their design language. Go ahead and give me Alfa Romeo performance and handling in a Dodge skin. It’s the much better option.

  3. Lazy? this is not as lazy as euro spec Mitsubishi Outlander that was offered along Peugeot 4007 and Citroen C-Crosser – both French cars were built by Mitsu in Japan (so, there’s that). There are numerous examples of worse badge-engineering, I guess: Toyota Aygo/Peugeot 107/Citroen C1, Skoda Citigo/Seat Mi/VW up or Ford Galaxy/Seat Alhambra/VW Sharan to name just three.

    1. You’re not wrong but those were all mass market OEMs. What makes this example particularly egregious is the Alfa is a high profile supposedly premium car.

  4. I was going to get excited about an Alfa with Chrysler reliability… ahh forget it.

    How are those Fiat Renegades doing these days? Flying off the lots right into the service bays?

  5. The Hornet could always be sold as a Fiat in Europe (like how the Dodge Journey was sold as the Fiat Freemont over there)

    Why not a Jeep version too? The Renegade was another Italian crossover that got rebadged a bunch of times. The Stelvio is a rebadged Grand Cherokee.

    Shit, the Chrager/Challenger/300 are 90s Mercedes LOL

    People still buy Escalades when the Tahoe and Suburban are around, same with the Navigator and Expedition.

    VW does it, too. The Tiguan, Q3, and Macan

    The problems with Tonale sales won’t be due to the Dodge rebadge. They’ll be due to the stupid name (toe nail, really?) and reputation for making shitty cars

    1. The Stelvio is built on the Giorgio platform, originally engineered for the Giulia.

      Also, only slack-jawed yokels read “toe-nail”. Is a coffee house a “kayf” ? Would you order a “latty”? Like with fellow automotive compatriots -I’m thinking such machines as Gallardo, Murciélago to Barchetta and even cinquecento- If you can’t name it correctly, maybe it isn’t marketed towards you.

    2. Talking too much too quick, this is already based on the jeep, it’s the renegade/compass platform.
      Stelvio is not a gd Cherokee, it’s based on the Giulia
      The macan’s bro is the q5 in the vw line up, not the q3.
      Be precise.

    3. One big issue with your point about “The Stelvio is a rebadged Grand Cherokee”
      It’s the other way around, the Guilia/Stelvio platform is the source, the Jeep is the late addition and nowhere near as lazy as the Hornet.

    4. FCA/Stellantis are tight-lipped on what chassis the WL Grand Cherokee actually is: the WK2, what the world has known as the Grand Cherokee since 2011, had its chassis originate in 2005 AND is shared with the Mercedes ML.
      You might be close in saying the Stelvio is a rebadged Grand Cherokee though: it might be based on the Alfa chassis.
      The world may never know.

    5. There is a difference between platform sharing and what is essentially modern day badge engineering.
      The 300/Chally/Charger/E-class all had distinctive body work. You can’t swap doors between a 300 and Charger. The greenhouses are completely different.

      While the large luxury SUVs were essentially badge engineered, there was a reasonable amount of interion upgrades for the luxo-trucks. Also in those cases, the Tahoe/Suburban and Expedition had luxury trims that were already approaching the prices of the new Caddy/Lincoln versions. These were SUVs already at the top of their class, so spiffying them up to put the luxo badges on wasn’t as big a step up. And now days, there is more differentiation in the body work than there was initially.

      The issue with the HornyToad is that there appears to be only the most basic amount of differentiation going on. And from what I’ve read elsewhere, the Alfa folks are pissed off about the Hornet since the Tonale was expected to be something that they could use to expand their fairly weak brand recognition in the US. Since luxo brands are built on boosting owners images, having an entry level lux-CUV that is 98% shared with a (very) lowly Dodge is going to kill off a lot of potential sales. And when Alfa is scraping up every freaking sale they can muster, this is a big deal.

      1. Comparing this to a HornyToad is shameful, HornyToads are so much cooler than this abomination not worthy of a Dodge badge, and that’s saying something.

      2. so you know if the top brass are pissed, the basic line worker will not care how they slap it together and the pissed off brass will let them go in hopes the issue dies.

    6. Alfa still has such a small footprint here in the USA that I wonder how many people will be aware enough of the Tonale to make the connection.

  6. My man that is a long article for two vehicles that exist for the “you’re approved” crowds.

    300-500 credit, you get the Dodge, 500+ you get your “luxury brand”.

    These aren’t car people, math people, or caring people buying these. These are NPC cars, and NPC’s need cars too…err..NPC’s need CUV’s too.

  7. The real question is: is it more Alfa or Dodge? And by that I mean are the doors too small and the pedals line up with middle seat or do the doors fall off and do you find someone’s sandwich behind the radio?

  8. I really think they shouldn’t be selling the Tonale in the US at all if they’re giving it Cadillac Cimarron Syndrome like this. There must be dealer contracts involved (and I can imagine a significant chunk of them, like 2-door Evoques, being service loaners).

    The Hornet should be sporty and curvy, there are square-rigged chunky CUVs in the Jeep lineup.

    “CUV that should’ve been just a hatchback” is the new “meeting that should’ve been just an email”.

    1. They should have based the dodge on the peugeot 3008, but i guess it’s to respect some % of platform sharing from ex fiat that they’ve did it with the tonale.

  9. It’s absolutely a terrible branding decision, but all I’m hearing is that the slightly better looking Alfa just became slightly more feasible to own as a 10 year old beater now that it’ll have Dodge dealer support.

  10. Directly sharing sheet metal with a low/medium priced product is not generally a good thing for a luxury brand, or a brand with luxury pretensions. They really ought to have found the money for unique door pressings and done something to alter the side daylight opening

    1. proves the point that the “Luxury” brands in Europe are really not that luxurious when you talk about the basic model like this thing. It looks like any other small SUV, but if the perception of piss poor build quality of European built cars proves true, and the repair prices and lead times match Alpha, then this will just be another Dodge Dart fiasco. My question is do they really have chips and parts enough to meet European demand let alone tack on a country who loves the CUV currently.

  11. If you’re the kind of middle class sophisticated buyer that Alfa is courting and needs, would you be impressed to find out you can buy essentially the same car much cheaper with a more mass market badge?
    I wouldn’t be.

    1. Looking at this from Alfa’s standpoint, it is not a good thing. But from Stellantis’ view, moving some vehicles in the US with minimal additional development cost is a very good thing.

      The fronts are substantially different. The sides and rear look just like every other CUV so no one will notice. I’m fine with it.

  12. It seems odd to me to complain about this being lazy badge engineering when this is hardly the more egregiously lazy example of badge engineering in the history of the automobile. Chrysler itself is guilty of some of the worst (K-car, I’m looking at you), but this ain’t it.

  13. Dumb question I know, but humor me – is there a name for those (high-end trim) Alfa wheels?

    Always wonder, as they’re just gorgeous and scream *Alfa* in a modern way, like the dash-mounted shifter did back in the day.

      1. Thanks! I wondered about that, as that’s what they brought to my mind (as I’m old enough to remember those phones).

        I love the evolution of them over the years.

  14. I’d make the argument badge engineering is perfectly fine in this case because almost no one will be cross shopping the Tonale and the Hornet.

    We have to fully acknowledge the likely sales volume of the Tonale, and Alfa Romeo in general, is a rounding error relative to the major domestic brands at FCA.

    Few people besides us car geeks and automotive journalists are going to care at all that both vehicles are nearly identical.

    My take on the Hornet and Tonale is more “yea for Stellantis bringing us an interesting sporty CUV” rather than worrying about two versions of the same basic car.

    As for GM’s failures with badge engineering, we should also remember the Silverado and Sierra pick-ups are about as badge engineered as anything in the market and no one is complaining.

    1. The GM point is a good one, and I’ll admit to not being completely plugged into American brand loyalty, not being American.

      I wouldn’t be so sure that only us enthusiasts and writers are going to notice. Customers are not stupid, and these two are so close yet the brands are so far apart, I really think it’s quite damaging.

      1. I think you not being that familiar with some American brands is the main thing here.

        chevy, buick, GMC are doing this same thing every day (and not even just with trucks) and people aren’t going to think twice about what is happening here with the dodge and alfa.

        if it fails it will be because they are dodge or alfa brands, not because they are largely the same car.

        1. My reply to that is while I don’t think you’re being unfair, a potential Alfa customer would not be looking at a Chevy/GMC (Buick possibly?).

          In a ideal world, they would be cross shopping BMW/Porsche/JLR (that’s where the Tonale is pitched).

    2. To be somewhat fair to GM the Chevy Silverado and the GMC Sierra get further and further apart each generation. At this point the only things they really share are a chassis, drivetrain, and cab shell, beyond that they don’t share a single piece of sheet metal, and their interiors are completely different. One generation ago the interiors were basically identical, and some front end/box sheet metal was different. Two generations it was fenders/grille/hood. Three generations some headlights and a hood. Four, nothing more than a grille/badge. GM has done a lot lately to separate the Sierra from the Silverado and honestly I can see why someone would pick one over the other. Personally I’d gladly buy a Sierra, while a Silverado would be near the bottom of my list.

  15. In the not-too-distant future, buyers will have a choice of two nearly identical EV-CUV, available with 27 different manufacturers’ badging. Paint choices will be limited to gray and a subtly different shade of gray.

    1. Complete with simulated “manual driving” mode where you can pretend to steer the car and press the pedals like a little kid pretending to drive their cozy coupe.

  16. Macro-view, I wonder if this could mean we’re at peak SUV?

    As in, everybody wants one, so the incentive is to just get whatever you can, slap a badge on it, and get it out the door. As long as it’s not actively falling apart or under investigation by a government for some sort of catastrophic failure, the law of large numbers means enough people will buy it.

    Sure, the long-term reputational risk is high (as that Fortune cover shows), but this is an industry that as a rule doesn’t do that too well.

    And don’t forget the early Ford Fusion also came in Mercury (Milan) and Lincoln (Zephyr) flavors. And that was in the 2000s!

    1. Alfa barely exists here and Dodge doesn’t exist in international markets, so I can’t imagine this as a cheaper Tonale is a problem. GM still does this constantly, and Stellantis has too many brands anyway, so I don’t think sharing models with various option pevels is going to be a problem.

    2. I guess in my mind peak SUV re-badging was with the Chevy Trailblazer/GMC Envoy/Buick Ranier/Isuzu Ascender/Saab 9-7x/Oldsmobile Bravada septuplets.

      I’ve kind of felt the GM re-badging is still pretty brazen.

          1. The Tahoe existing doesn’t hurt the Escalade.

            Alfa barely exists in the US. Selling a up-optioned car otherwise sold as a Dodge might actually help people know they exist.

  17. You see a small amount of Alfa’s in the Detroit area…I always assume they’re owned by STLA employees (I think like 99% of them are).

  18. Now, I am Not A Designer, so I don’t know the intricacies of the actual work, but it kinda looks like the Alfa was already done when Dodge finally got to change their five body panels? Because you could probably do a different rear door skin for some meaningful differentiation if the cutline was shaped slightly differently, but right now anything different would look weird. That’s just a thing I noticed.

    Like, it just seems like if you wanted to do two models you could probably get a couple with a different look if you had the teams work at the same time, instead of Dodge getting it five minutes before deadline only allowed to style some bumpers and a hood stamping.

    1. The Tonale has been brewing for a long time. My suspicion is it was well along and then a Dodge version was added after the body in white and most of the engineering work was done.

  19. At least there’s precedent with Chrysler’s captive imports in the ’80s. Depending on year you could buy a Conquest that was badged as a Chrysler, Plymouth, or Dodge, and it would be damn near identical to the Starion you could buy from a Mitsubishi dealer at the same time.

      1. “Undead undead undead.”

        Now I’m thinking of the Queen song All Dead from News of the World…
        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l_6AC2u0E4E

        Only I’m imaging it with these modified lyrics:

        Undead, Undead
        All the dreams we had
        Mostly gone but the hope lives on
        Undead, Undead
        And alone, I’m spared
        Eating my sweeter half instead
        Undead, not gone
        Undead
        Undead, Undead
        At the rainbow’s end
        And still, I hear her hollowed out song
        Undead, Undead
        Take me back again
        You know my little friend’s
        Undead, not gone

        Her ways are always with me
        I shamble all the while
        But, please, you must forgive me
        I am for eating you
        Undead, Undead

        1. It was a Bauhaus gag, I can’t stand the faux operatic pomp stylings of Queen (although admittedly Freddie was probably the greatest frontman who ever lived).

    1. Believe it or not, Alfa IS sold in the US. In fact, there are more distinct Alfa Romeo models on the US market – Stelvio, Giulia, and now Tonale – than the Chrysler brand has – 300 and Voyager/Pacifica.

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