The sedan segment has been on the decline for years, as proven by the data from S&P Global. More buyers are switching en masse to roomier and higher riding SUVs and crossovers. Dodge is one of an increasing number of automakers that offers no sedans in its current lineup, but that wasn’t the case until recently.Â
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The most notable recent Dodge sedan model is the Charger, which was discontinued in 2023 before being brought back as an electric coupe. Until 2016, Dodge also offered the Dart, and before that, it sold the Avenger. Launched in 2008, the Avenger was intended to replace the Stratus. It received a facelift in 2011 and was then axed after 2014. Its discontinuation wasn’t a surprise, as executives had unveiled plans to phase out the model long before the last example rolled off the line.
Unlike many discontinued cars, the Avenger’s eventual axing can’t be put down to low sales figures. In fact, data from CarFigures shows that 2012 and 2013 were the two best years of Avenger sales out of its entire production run, with 96,890 and 93,242 examples sold, respectively. So, why would Dodge make the decision to axe a car that was seemingly becoming more popular later in its life?Â
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Reports at the time suggested that it wasn’t the Avenger’s sales figures that were the deciding factor in the model being discontinued. Rather, it was the sales figures of its lineup stablemate, the Dart, and the Avenger’s lackluster image among buyers.
Dart in, Avenger out
Buyers were continuing to purchase the Avenger in significant numbers, despite the car’s platform being old and Chrysler wanting to phase it out in favor of a new generation platform. The Dart was built on this new platform, and the then-upcoming Chrysler 200 would also share the same underpinnings.Â
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The thinking seemed to be that, with the Avenger gone, buyers would turn to the Dart instead, or to the Chrysler 200, which was eventually discontinued. A replacement to the Avenger was rumored for the 2015 model year, although details remained scant at the point of its discontinuation.
Unfortunately, this plan didn’t work out. The Dart never reached the same popularity with buyers as the Avenger, and the Chrysler 200’s success proved short-lived. According to CarFigures, the 200 had a brief sales spike in 2015 before sales tanked in 2016. The falling popularity of Chrysler’s remaining sedan models meant that the company couldn’t justify the investment in another sedan, and so the mooted Avenger replacement never hit dealerships.
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Was the Avenger a good car?
While the Avenger remained relatively popular in terms of sales figures throughout its later years, it suffered from major image problems. Many people will remember the Avenger as being a frequent sight on rental car lots, with the model being a favorite among the biggest rental car companies during its time on sale. There’s no way to confirm how much of the Avenger’s sales were down to rental car fleet orders, but that image certainly won’t have helped the Avenger’s appeal among individual buyers.
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Those buyers that did purchase an Avenger often didn’t have a good experience with it either, with DodgeProblems ranking the model among the worst performers for overall reliability. Combine that with an underwhelming base four-cylinder engine and disappointing handling, and it’s easy to see why many people didn’t have a favorable view of the Avenger by the time it was discontinued. There are plenty of discontinued Dodge models that arguably deserve a second chance, but the Avenger isn’t one of them.
