Next Dodge Charger, Challenger to keep current platform?

Alfa\'s Giorgio platform is ill-suited to an American sports car.

The rumors claiming Dodge would borrow Alfa Romeo's Giorgio platform for its Charger and Challenger successors may not be accurate after all. Parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) hasn't made up its mind about which platform to use yet, though it's leaning towards keeping the current architecture.

"We may not necessarily have to go as far as the Giorgio architecture for Dodge as long as we are willing to commit to a significant upgrade to the current architecture to make it competitive. That's something that's already started," FCA boss Sergio Marchionne told Motor Authority after presenting the company's five-year plan.

That's a bold move. Though heavily updated over the years, the platform both cars ride on traces its roots to the w210-generation Mercedes-Benz E-Class introduced in 1995. It's a bad hangover from the DaimlerChrysler era. Marchionne knows this, and he defended his position by explaining the architecture will go through so many changes that there will be more FCA than Benz genes in it.

"Certainly by the time we finish with that architecture, you will not recognize its origins. We may maintain its bare-bones structure," he said.

Using the Giorgio platform found under the Giulia and the Stelvio is technically feasible, but it would put a dubious spin on the concept of a high-performance, all-American sports car.

"The problem with Giorgio is from size and capability standpoint it reflects much more of a European performance requirement than it does the American heritage of Dodge," Marchionne explained.