Rumor: Dodge to enter IMSA

Fiat-Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and PSA Group merged under the Stellantis umbrella in early 2021 to achieve economies of scale, and this could lead to Dodge racing a rebadged Peugeot Hypercar in IMSA. Executives are debating whether to give Dodge its own version of Peugeot’s recently-unveiled 9×8 hypercar to race in America, according to a recent report.

“While we only heard [the new rules] confirmed a week ago, it has certainly led to some very open discussion, not only about whether Peugeot might add races in the United States, but also about whether the spine of this car might have opportunities with other brands in the Stellantis Group. There are no conclusions yet, but there are now open discussions,” affirmed Jean-Marc Finot, the Senior Vice President of Stellantis, in an interview with Racer.

On the surface, this means Peugeot could enter its 9X8 (pictured above) in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship as soon as the 2023 season. While this is seemingly under consideration, Peugeot has little to gain from winning a major race in the United States. It hasn’t sold cars here since 1991, and its long-mooted comeback was canned after PSA merged with FCA. Giving a variant of the 9X8 to Dodge is a more credible possibility, according to Racer.