Dodge took a big gamble with its muscle car line when the Challenger coupe and previous Charger sedan went away. Instead of continuing with V8s, Dodge nearly went all-in on electric power, and didn’t add any sort of gas-powered version until recently. For most of the new Charger’s life, that gamble has been a bad one, with customers showing little interest in the Hemi-deficient muscle car. This year, though, may mark a turning point for at least one half of the Charger line.
2026 Dodge Charger SixpackJared Rosenholtz/CarBuzz/Valnet
People Are Rocking With The Hurricane
On the whole, Stellantis reported a sales increase of 33% year-over-year for the Charger. That’s a decent increase, but it doesn’t give a clear idea of what’s happening with the car. The real story is in the sales split between the gas-powered Charger and the electric version. The Charger with the Hurricane has now reached 4,583 units in total sales, an increase of 181% over last year. Compared with the second-quarter of this year with 2025, the increase is even more impressive at 404% from 578 to 2,911. It’s likely that this was supported by finally adding the more entry-level R/T Sixpack with the standard-output Hurricane and both two- and four-door body styles.
2026 Dodge Charger Daytona Scat Pack Track Pack ExteriorChristopher Smith / CarBuzz / Valnet
As for the Charger Daytona’s sales, they’re looking grim. In fact, they look like the inverse of the Hurricane-powered Charger’s sales. Dodge only sold 294 examples in the second-quarter, down from 2,352. That brings the total number of electric Chargers sold to 534 for the year, down from 4,299. Both numbers are decreases of 88%.
As further evidence that the gas-powered Charger is showing some promise, its sales this year have topped the Daytona’s sales last year to date. It’s also more than halfway to the full-year sales of the Daytona last year. So, it’s certainly on track to become the best-performing version of the new-generation car. This also fits the expectations set by Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa a few months ago. He said that the gas Charger variants would make up “90% of the expected volumes.” If you do the math, 89.5% of Charger sales are from the combustion version, but we’d say that’s close enough.
The Charger Is Still Far From Its Previous Glory
Despite growing Charger sales, the model is still struggling compared to its predecessor. In the final year of production for the Charger, Dodge sold nearly 35,000 examples. That was also down by nearly half compared to 2023. It was a similar story with the Challenger, which has effectively been replaced by the two-door Charger. In 2024, Dodge sold a little more than 27,000 Challengers, and that was down from nearly 45,000 the year before.
2026 Dodge Charger SixpackJared Rosenholtz/CarBuzz/Valnet
As for ways to improve sales, there’s one that probably everyone has been thinking the whole time they’ve been reading this story: offer a Hemi. We can’t think of any real reason Dodge couldn’t do it, since Ram reintroduced the Hemi in the 1500, and the updated current generation didn’t have an electrical system designed for it. The Charger would probably require a bit more work in the engine bay than the Ram, but it seems plausible to us and could be worth the trouble if it resulted in multiple times the current sales.
2026 Dodge Charger Six-PackDodge
Another possibility would be to offer a more affordable, entry-level version of the Charger. Right now, the Charger R/T with the standard-output Hurricane starts at about $50,000. While that’s not hugely more expensive than a Mustang GT, it leaves out a whole group of buyers who might want the look of the Charger, but can’t afford the R/T and might not care as much about the outright performance. Basically, the Charger could use its own version of the Mustang EcoBoost.
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Dodge’s CEO told us not too long ago that he’s “aware” of this potential market, so it’s possible Dodge may find a way to fill it, though he was careful not to give any specifics. Dodge would also need to pick an engine for it. The tried-and-true 3.6-liter Pentastar V6 could be a candidate, but so could the new Stellantis turbo four-cylinder derived from the Hurricane six.
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CarBuzz Insight – Why This Matters:
The fact that Charger sales are picking up for any variant is good news for Dodge, but it really needs more than the slight increase so far this year. The only volume seller it has left is the ancient Durango, and while its sales are up slightly this year, they haven’t yet hit 40,000. The Hornet bombed so hard that it’s been discontinued altogether.
At least the Charger won’t have to do all the work. Stellantis confirmed two new models coming to the Dodge line. One of them will be a small hatchback or crossover called the GLH that, ideally, will do what the Hornet couldn’t. The other car will be the SRT Copperhead, a high-performance muscle car that’s meant to be smaller and more athletic than the Charger. Time will tell if these help turn the brand around.
