The end of the 2020 Dodge Journey

In the world of football, David Silva will be leaving Manchester City after a decade of service. In F1, Seb Vettel left Ferrari. And in the auto domain, Dodge have announced that the Journey isn’t part of its plans beyond 2020.

This is part of the FCA brand’s new strategic direction, focusing on the triune forces of the Challenger, Charger and Durango.

This may come as a surprise to the many who enjoyed the crossover. After all, along with the Grand Caravan minivan, it accounted for nearly half of Dodge’s sales last year, and helped it top J.D. Power’s initial-quality survey, becoming the first domestic brand to do so.

But all that’s changed. Last week, Dodge drafted the Challenger SRT Super Stock, Charger Hellcat Redeye and Durango Hellcat to its line up. These three bad boys pack a lot of power, more than 700 horses to be exact, in a daring supercharger manoeuvre that’s far removed from the EV agenda.

What was so good about the Journey?

Three words: cheap, cheap and cheap. Yep, if you were in the market for a three-row SUV without breaking bank, the Journey was the one for you.

Yes, its design was dated and pedestrian. Yes, the features weren’t that great. But when you can undercut your competitors by thousands, and give your customers naught but a configurable cabin and user-friendly infotainment system, you’re a winner any day. Guess Netflix does beat first class driving dynamics, huh.

This seriously underpowered car offered just four cylinders, and since they no longer do the V-6, you’d have no choice but to lumber up them hills thinking to yourself “it’s cheap, it’s cheap, it’s cheap.” Whatever makes you sleep at night, buddy.

In short, this was a shitty vehicle. Shitty, Shitty, Bang, Bang. Poor fuel economy (worst ETA ratings ever), no driver assistance tech, nada. Just a box on wheels, really, but hey: cheap, cheap, cheap!

A refreshing twist for Dodge?

Pulling the cord on the Dodge Journey wasn’t an overnight decision. You see, when sales are THAT good, you can’t just chalk it off, right? Especially not in a time when the auto industry has taken a serious hit.

But shifting the focus to “core performance” cars may be the best way to go for Dodge. Sure, they’ll be compromising them Journey sales, but when you’ve got such powerful cars in your 2021 lineup, who gives a shit?

Dodge’s future looks bright. Let’s just hope they can keep up the sales without their box on wheels.

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