Chrysler could axe HEMI V8s

As Aussie V8 fans continue to await news on whether the Dodge SRT Hellcats are on their way to Australia, rumours are circling in the USA that the 6.2-litre supercharged HEMI V8 that powers them will be banished for the next range overhaul due by 2019.

And the 6.4-litre naturally-aspirated V8 currently sold in Australia in the Chrysler 300C SRT and the Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT are also supposedly up for the axe.

Fiat Chrysler Australia isn’t commenting on the rumours reported by US website Motor Authority predicting the demise of the HEMIs by 2019, nor is it giving any update on managing director Pat Dougherty’s campaign to get the current two-door Challenger and/or four-door Charger Hellcat to Australia.

The 6.2 HEMI engine pumps out 527kW and 881Nm of torque and slings the Hellcat Challenger to 100kmh in just 3.6 seconds. Demand is huge in the USA for both Hellcat models and a lift in production rates has been announced.

A limited-run Jeep Grand Cherokee Trackhawk using the same engine is also reported to be on the way for 2017.

If Dougherty can’t get the current-gen Hellcats to Australia and the next generation doesn’t have V8 power then there’s no doubt an opportunity will be lost for FCA, which could have offered a home for many grieving fans of the Ford Falcon and Holden Commodore V8s, neither of which will soon be available.

Motor Authority based it speculative piece on a source at the Jeep TrackhawkForums, which claimed the V8s would fall victim to ever-more stringent CAFÉ (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) requirements and be replaced by twin-turbo four-cylinder and six-cylinder engines.

Perhaps significantly, reports have emerged at the same time that Jeep will introduce the Trackhawk name via the small Renegade SUV and will power it with a twin-turbo version of Chrysler’s 2.4-litre Tigershark engine.

Aussie excitement about the Hellcats was pumped up by the visit of one of Chrysler’s global product gurus, Steve Bartoli, in April. At the time he made clear bringing the Charger and Challenger to Australia was under consideration.

Bartoli told motoring.com.au he was well aware of the appetite for V8 performance cars in Australia.

"I know it is here," he said. "I can see it. It is like a pebble in my shoe. How do I deal with it? How do I create something that will help their business [FCA Australia] grow and help satisfy tastes in the marketplace?

"Quite honestly I don't have that figured out yet, but I am going to figure that out."

Since then there has been speculation that if FCA gets a green light for Hellcat, it would swap badges on the cars, so the two-door would also wear the Charger badge, which would be a nod to the legendary locally-developed Valiant Charger of the 1970s.