Dodge’s engineers have reportedly worked
around the clock to make sure that an updated version of the aging Durango
remains on track. According to MoparInsiders, the technicians got to work on
the SUV from the comfort of their own garages during lockdown.
Quoting undisclosed sources from within
the company, the site states that the 2021 Durango should be unveiled soon,
with dealers ordering opening as soon as August 6. Production, on the other
hand, is slated to start on October 5. None of these dates have been confirmed,
but they do align with pre-coronavirus reports on FCA’s plans for the refreshed
Durango which has been spied lightly camouflaged on a number of occasions over
the past year. Having entered production all the way back
in 2010 as a 2011MY at the Detroit, Michigan, plant, the second generation
Durango is based on an old unibody platform that can be traced to the
Mercedes-Benz ML.
On the outside, the refresh will bring a
newly designed front end and possibly smaller changes to the rear along with
the mandatory new wheel choices and colors. It’s said that the interior will be
redesigned boasting new gear, including the firm’s 10.1-inch Uconnect
touchscreen infotainment system.
In terms of power, aside from the existing
3.6-liter Pentastar V6, the big news is rumored to be the introduction of two
new and very different powertrains. For the Eco-consious, Dodge will offer the
3.6-litre Pentastar V6 with the self-charging mild hybrid system “eTorque”
that’s already offered in the Ram 1500 and Jeep Wrangler. On the opposite
corner will be the Hellcat high-performance version featuring the omnipresent
6.2-liter supercharged V8 – you know, the 707 HP beast powering the Jeep Grand
Cherokee Trackhawk and which in the Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye, pumps out as
much as 797 HP.
