The U.S. division of Stellantis has recalled a small number of Dodge Charger and Challenger vehicles over a safety issue. As it happens, the suspect sedans and coupes were built for the 2023 model year with a misaligned left rear seatback finding.
This condition prevents the seatback from engaging. As you may have guessed by now, this condition presents an increased risk of injury to the left rear occupant. Additionally, because the left rear seat can fold down on its own in a crash, unrestrained cargo in the trunk could injure the vehicle's occupants.
Chrysler was notified of this issue on July 10, 2023, prompting an investigation. Safety experts procrastinated until July 2 of this year, analyzing the lock failure patterns and vehicle history. On July 25, the automaker’s Vehicle Regulations Committee finally decided to issue a recall.
In reality, these are recalls because the Charger is being recalled separately from the Challenger. According to reports 24V-573 and 24V-574 posted on the federal regulator's recall portal, no fewer than 3,750 vehicles equipped with 60/40-split folding rear seats are potentially affected. That breaks down to 2,852 2023 Challengers and 898 2023 Chargers.
The production dates are June 24, 2023 to June 28, 2023 for the Charger and July 29, 2023 to August 16, 2023 for the Challenger. The seatback retainer striker is known as 04628848AB in the component system and the supplier is listed as Magna Closures.
Photo: Dodge
Instead of replacing the seat or latch striker, dealers have been instructed to adjust the striker if necessary. Owners will be notified by mail on or about August 15, 2024. FCA US LLC notes that this is an assembly issue with the vehicle rather than a design defect or manufacturing issue attributable to Magna.
The Challenger was related to the drag strip in the sky last year, with the last vehicle produced in December 2023 at the Brampton Assembly Plant in Canada. The Charger and the technically similar Chrysler 300 also went the way of the dodo, although the Charger is back for the 2024 model year on an all-new platform, boasting new powertrains.
Potential buyers are initially introduced to the three-door liftback in an all-electric guise. Next year, a five-door liftback and straight-six will follow. Built on the Stellantis Group’s STLA Large platform, rather than the DaimlerChrysler-era L platform of its predecessor, the all-new Charger is exclusively all-wheel drive.
Daytona is the name of the zero-emissions variant, while the sixer is nicknamed – wait for it – SIXPACK. Pretty retro, indeed, but there's nothing retro about the twin-turbo I6 hiding under the hood of the SIXPACK. The Daytona's electrical system is pretty cool in itself, although 400 volts will have to do for now. The long-awaited Charger Daytona Banshee will be bumped to 800 volts and – fingers crossed – at least 885 mechanical horsepower.