2027 Dodge Durango: Everything We Know About the High-Performance 3-Row SUV
The fourth-generation Durango, code-named D6U, aims to keep Dodge’s in-your-face attitude alive with EV and six-cylinder powertrains.
What It Is
As Dodge’s V-8 era ends, a new Durango will channel the steroidal styling and red-blooded performance buyers have come to expect—without the legendary Hemi and Hellcat engines. Code-named D6U, the fourth-generation Durango will keep company with SUVs from BMW’s M and Mercedes’ AMG divisions in its most powerful forms, while slower versions will compete with the Honda Pilot, the Toyota Highlander, the Chevy Traverse, and a raft of family mini-buses from other automakers.
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In 2023, we reported the Durango was due to be replaced by an EV wearing the resurrected Stealth badge (our rendering is at the bottom of this post). The situation is shaping up to be more complicated. After landing a new labor contract last fall, the UAW spilled the beans that an all-new Durango will keep the nameplate alive with both combustion and electric powertrains. The Stealth will follow a year behind as a two-row version of the Durango, but the Dodge SUVs will be as similar as the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Grand Cherokee L should they both come to fruition. There are some whispers Dodge may be getting cold feet about the new Durango while forging ahead with the Stealth, but abandoning the massive, popular, and profitable three-row space makes little sense for a brand with so few vehicles in its lineup as it is.
Why It Matters
While other family crossovers jockey to fit the most diapers behind the third row, Dodge is the only automaker that understands having more time is a parent’s most pressing need. How else do you explain the 710-hp Durango SRT Hellcat? The next-gen replacement won’t pack a rip-snorting V-8, unfortunately, but it will stay true to the SRT’s roots as a practical hauler with wildly impractical performance. We have faith Dodge will come through for time-pressed moms and dads with at least one version that matches or beats the Hellcat’s 3.4-second 0–60 time.
The next Durango is a hugely important vehicle for Dodge. Hornet compact SUVs are collecting dust on dealer lots, and no matter how quick or loud it is, the new Charger has its work cut out convincing owners of Hemi and Hellcat muscle cars to trade in for a six-cylinder or an electric powertrain. Dodge needs the Durango to be a sales engine that drives against those headwinds and burnishes its hell-raising image.
Platform and Powertrain
The next-gen Durango will move to the same STLA Large platform that underpins the 2024 Dodge Charger and the electric 2024 Jeep Wagoneer S. We expect the Durango to lead with combustion engines, specifically the Hurricane twin-turbo I-6 in 420- and 540-hp tunes plus a base engine—either the well-worn Pentastar V-6 or the corporate 2.0-liter turbo-four. The electric version will follow the template laid out by the Wagoneer S, with two motors making as much as 600 hp and a 100-kWh battery delivering more than 300 miles of range. A plug-in-hybrid is also a possibility.
Estimated Price: $45,000
Expected On-Sale Date: Fall 2026
I fell in love with car magazines during sixth-grade silent reading time and soon realized that the editors were being paid to drive a never-ending parade of new cars and write stories about their experiences. Could any job be better? The answer was obvious to 11-year-old me. By the time I reached high school, becoming an automotive journalist wasn’t just a distant dream, it was a goal. I joined the school newspaper and weaseled my way into media days at the Detroit auto show. With a new driver’s license in my wallet, I cold-called MotorTrend’s Detroit editor, who graciously agreed to an informational interview and then gave me the advice that set me on the path to where I am today. Get an engineering degree and learn to write, he said, and everything else would fall into place. I left nothing to chance and majored in both mechanical engineering and journalism at Michigan State, where a J-school prof warned I’d become a “one-note writer” if I kept turning in stories about cars for every assignment. That sounded just fine by me, so I talked my way into GM’s Lansing Grand River Assembly plant for my next story. My child-like obsession with cars started to pay off soon after. In 2007, I won an essay contest to fly to the Frankfurt auto show and drive the Saturn Astra with some of the same writers I had been reading since sixth grade. Winning that contest launched my career. I wrote for Jalopnik and Edmunds, interned at Automobile, finished school, and turned down an engineering job with Honda for full-time employment with Automobile. In the years since, I’ve written for Car and Driver, The New York Times, and now, coming full circle, MotorTrend. It has been a dream. A big chunk of this job is exactly what it looks like: playing with cars. I’m happiest when the work involves affordable sporty hatchbacks, expensive sports cars, manual transmissions, or any technology that requires I learn something to understand how it works, but I’m not picky. If it moves under its own power, I’ll drive it.
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