Dodge to be muscle brand with supercharged Hemi V-8

AUBURN Hills, Mich. -- Chrysler Group's Dodge brand will soon offer three versions of the famous "Hemi" V-8 engine, the company said.

The three: Current 5.7-liter; 6.4-liter and a 6.2-liter supercharged version.

Dodge is "the American performance brand," says Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis in his presentation of the brand's five-year plan as part of Fiat Chrysler Automobile's Investor Day. "This is not a new strategy. This is a purification of the brand."

Even so, Dodge will attempt to remain a mainstream, broad-appeal brand, the company said. That's so, even though the Chrysler brand is dropping its long and unsuccessful attempt to be a premium nameplate and moving to mainstream, too.

The strategy evokes how General Motors tried to distinguish its now defunct Pontiac brand from the mainstream Chevrolet brand. The two sold similar vehicles and Pontiac failed to draw enough performance-minded buyers to make up for sales it lost to Chevy.

The Fiat Chrysler five-year plan detailed at Chrysler Group headquarters here calls for three smaller Dodge engines, too, each boasting some performance features and all with the Fiat Chrysler fanciful names: 1.4-liter turbocharged Multiair four-cylinder, 2.4-liter Tigershark Multiair II four-cylinder, 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 with performance- and mileage- enhancing variable valve timing.

The brand keeps its Dart compact, Journey crossover SUV, Charger full-size sedan, Challenger mid-size, and discontinues Avenger sedan and Grand Caravan minivan to avoid competing with the Chrysler brand in those segments.

Kuniskis acknowledges that Dodge sales are likely to slump initially, but he says by 2018 they should be strong.

Contributing: James R. Healey, USA TODAY