The LaFontaine Automotive Group is looking to generate buzz for the Dodge Hornet, the peppy compact crossover that arrived last spring and has been touted for its fun-to-drive factor rather than its utility.
The group has put Hornets into the loaner fleets at its three Stellantis dealerships in Michigan to get more exposure. The stores also have been encouraging salespeople to take a Hornet out on weekends to not only learn about the vehicle but also to catch people’s attention around town.
“Everybody that has touched it and seen it and been in it has had nothing but great things to say,” said Max Muncey, the group’s communications manager. “I think the one thing that we would love some more of, probably like most dealers, is we’d love some more awareness on the product. We’re getting a lot of people that still ask, ‘What is that product?’ or ‘What is the Dodge Hornet?’ ”
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Dodge has been on a mission to answer those questions since the Hornet was unveiled in August 2022. Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis said early on that the Hornet wasn’t going to tally hundreds of thousands of sales like the Toyota RAV4, but it could carve out a piece of the segment by drawing consumers who want something different.
In its first year on the market, Dodge sold only about 17,000 Hornets in the U.S. The brand is seeking to reel in more buyers with a new advertising campaign that began earlier this month.
Dodge also hopes sales will pick up as the quicker R/T plug-in hybrid version is distributed more widely.
The initial R/T models that arrived last summer were mostly shipped to states that follow California’s emissions rules, while buyers in other states had to order one in advance, but allocations have opened up in 2024, said Matt McAlear, senior vice president of Dodge/SRT sales and marketing.
Florida dealer Randy Dye is excited to get his hands on more Hornets now that the R/T is more readily available. He mainly had been selling the gasoline-only Hornet GT that he was allowed to stock without having a customer waiting at his store, Daytona Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep-Ram.
With an eye on younger buyers, Dodge looked to disrupt the growing compact utility segment with a performance-driven image rather than one of practicality, a strategy similar to how it marketed the Durango in the world of three-row SUVs.
The Hornet launched with a March 2023 ad campaign declaring it was “taking the country by swarm.” The nameplate has since been intermingled in ads alongside the Charger, Challenger and Durango as the newest member of the “Brotherhood of Muscle.”
The Hornet GT, which offers 268 hp and 295 pound-feet of torque, went on sale last spring, followed a few months later by the 288-hp R/T plug-in.
The Hornet’s latest spot showcases the R/T as an option that appeals to a driver’s inner child with 383 pound-feet of torque and the PowerShot feature that adds 25 hp for 15-second intervals.
The campaign has a social media element, using humor to educate consumers in a limited series for TikTok and Instagram called “Torque for Newbs.”
Dodge knows the Hornet has to be marketed differently than its Hellcat-powered counterparts. After years of in-your-face advertising touting massive horsepower, McAlear said, the Hornet’s more modest figures wouldn’t have the same effect, even though they’re strong for the segment.
So the commercial spotlights the R/T’s torque to stand out in a “sea of sameness in a very large commoditized compact utility vehicle segment,” McAlear said. It hammers home Dodge’s messaging with the line: “Horsepower keeps you going, but torque gets you going.”
Consumers have favored the R/T over gasoline-only by a long shot this year, McAlear said, accounting for 81 percent of Hornet sales in the first quarter. The Hornet ranked fourth in U.S. first-quarter plug-in hybrid sales.
Dodge said the Hornet R/T campaign has helped boost traffic to its website 32 percent.
“We’re exceeding our mix expectations on the R/T, which is a great problem to have when more people are gravitating towards the higher-performance vehicle,” McAlear said.
“We’ve tried to balance that over the years with Charger and Challenger. It’s that fine line of can you push people all the way up into your highest-performing trim and still satisfy your volume?”
Source: autonews.com