2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat Falsely Hyped as ‘Limited Edition,’ Class Action Claims

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A proposed class action alleges FCA US and Stellantis, N.V. deceived the public by touting the 2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat as “limited edition” and available for only a single year before announcing later that another model year of the vehicles would be produced. 

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The 58-page lawsuit asserts that 2021 Dodge Durango Hellcat buyers would not have paid as much for the vehicle—or bought it at all—had they known the automakers would, within a year, turn around and release another line of the supposedly “limited edition” SUV. 

As a result of what turned out to be the “false and deceptive” hype around the vehicle’s purported limited-edition run, FCA US and Stellantis were able to charge consumers a premium, the filing says. 

“The representation that it was a limited edition, single year run, was a representation that there would be only a limited number of Hellcat vehicles available for the public to purchase,” the complaint says. “This representation turned out to be a classic bait and switch scheme on the part of Defendants.” 

Around July 2020, FCA US and Stellantis announced that they would be producing and selling for 2021 only a one-year limited-edition run of the Dodge Durango Hellcat, the suit states. The truck was touted by the automakers as offering 710 horsepower, and as “the most powerful SUV in the world,” capable of carrying and towing more and going from zero to 60 in 3.5 seconds, according to the case. 

In the media, potential buyers were warned to expect “huge dealer markups” given the purportedly limited nature of the Durango SRT Hellcat, the suit adds, noting that consumers had “very little if any bargaining power” with dealerships due to the SUV’s advertised uniqueness and exclusivity. 

After the 2021 Durango Hellcat sold out in January 2021, Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis noted in an online newsletter that the company “isn’t making more for 2022,” and that if consumers were looking to place an order for the 2021 model, “it’s too late,” the complaint shares. Per the suit, roughly 3,000 model year 2021 Durango Hellcats were sold through dealers. 

Despite the foregoing, the defendants announced in mid-August last year that they would be producing and selling the Durango Hellcat for the 2023 model year, the filing states. 

“Defendants’ announcement regarding the sale of the Hellcat Vehicle for 2023 was met with shock and anger on the part of purchasers of the [2021] Vehicle as a result of the Company’s betrayal in instituting a bait and switch with regard to the so-called one-year limited run,” the case shares. 

As the suit tells it, FCA and Stellantis, in response to the backlash, offered up the excuse that the 2021 model sold so well that they decided to “re-offer” the vehicle, even if that meant going back on their public promise to buyers. The automakers were “well aware” that this decision would be looked upon as “a fraud” perpetrated on those who bought the 2021 model year Durango Hellcat yet continued with the sale of the 2023 model “in the interest of capitalizing on the success and in the interests of making yet further sales,” the lawsuit adds. 

The case looks to represent all United States citizens who bought a 2021 model year Dodge Durango Hellcat from one of FCA/Stellantis’ authorized dealers prior to the date the companies revealed in August 2022 that they would produce and sell yet another run of the vehicles in 2023. 

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