Dodge Says It's Making A GLH Hot Hatch Crossover With Performance 'People Didn't Quite See Coming'

Ready for the Dodge Hornet 2.0? Well, too bad. Back in May, Dodge announced that it is bringing what it calls a "hot hatch" to the U.S. market, because those do so well here. And when it does, it'll bring back a name I completely forgot about: GLH. Back in the '80s, the Omni GLH (Go Like Hell) was an econobox hatchback full of Carroll Shelby magic. This time, according to Stellantis' head of North American brands Tim Kuniskis, is most likely going to be a Hornet-like crossover with a punchy turbo four-cylinder. 

According to Automotive News, Kuniskis said the GLH will be "the next generation of Hornet, but the way we should have done it the first time." 

Whatever shape or size it is, Dodge is confident that it'll be a new form of performance car from the brand. Dodge CEO Matt McAlear told Auto News that the GLH will have a sort of performance and capability for Dodge that people "didn't quite see coming." 

Dodge hasn't given any other details other than the fact that the car is coming and it will be fast right out of the box, with an even faster SRT version will be added later. McAlear also said Dodge wouldn't enter any segment if it couldn't attain "best-in-class performance." 

It still seems odd that Dodge wants to made a hot hatch/hot crossover right now. Hot hatches aren't exactly flying off dealer lots in America (but then again, neither are sport trucks) and the last few small Dodges have been sales disasters. But Dodge apparently sees a market. More importantly, McAlear sees the GLH as a gateway drug into Dodge's more traditional performance cars. 

"It absolutely is a growing segment, and we see an opportunity there from a profitability standpoint and an entry level into the brand to be able to step up into a Charger or Durango as you enter different life stages," McAlear said "We don't look to set up and design a 'me too' product that's like anything else in the segment. We want to design a Dodge first, and we've got some ideas that we're working on that's really going to separate it and be unique to market, and some things that make it stand out." 

I'm not so sure how much anyone will care about a compact crossover with a revived name from an '80s hatchback. But it's going to be funny to see the bald eagle-laden commercials about American performance for a front-wheel drive-based crossover with an Italian four-cylinder.