Dodge Still Sells Small Cars in Mexico and Its Newest Actually Looks Good

In Mexico, Ram not only still sells small trucks—Dodge sells small cars. Lately, that car’s been the Attitude, which was most recently based on the Mitsubishi Mirage. But as the Mirage is leaving production, Stellantis has little choice but to recast the Attitude as a badge-engineered version of another compact sedan. And this time, it’ll be a Chinese model that honestly looks like a major upgrade.

As a photo from Motorpasión México on X shows and Dodge Mexico has teased itself, the next-gen Attitude will essentially be a GAC-Trumpchi Empow under the skin.

El Dodge Attitude 2025 se destapa por primera vez en La Casa de los Famosos, y no tiene nada que ver con el anterior. https://t.co/lqQe6yyedt pic.twitter.com/JYd4mnW15k

— Motorpasión México (@MotorpasionMex) July
30, 2024

The Empow is made by the GAC Group in China and sold under the Trumpchi brand in its native market. It will now trade the big “G” badge it wears in China for Dodge’s dual-striped badge in Mexico, but the small sedan’s specs will stay the same according to Mopar Insiders.

The 2025 Dodge Attitude will be powered by a 1.5-liter turbo inline-four making 168 horsepower and 199 lb-ft of torque. The engine will be paired with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. Compared to the outgoing Mirage-based Attitude, those specs are a massive leap forward. The previous model was powered by a 1.2-liter inline-three making 76 hp and 74 lb-ft of torque. I’ve driven that car and you will feel every last pony in the I3 struggling to climb Mexico’s mountainous roads.

If the exterior and interior design of the Chinese-market Empow is any indication, the Dodge Attitude is poised for a major glow-up with a more aggressive design befitting of the brand, a new digital cockpit for the driver, and a 10.25-inch center touchscreen.

The Dodge Attitude has an interesting history in Mexico, going from a rebadged Hyundai Accent to a rebadged Mirage. The Attitude is apparently a world traveler, being based on a South Korean model in its first generation, a Japanese in its second, and now a Chinese in its third.

Dodge has already seen mild success in Mexico by selling a rebadged Chinese model built by GAC after debuting the latest Dodge Journey, which is based on the GAC-Trumpchi GS5. Even in so-called developing markets, major automakers like Stellantis would rather import cheaper vehicles made by joint venture partners abroad.

Surely, this is so production capacity in Mexico is freed up to make cars and trucks bound for the lucrative market in America. Bringing a Chinese car and rebadging it to replace a former Japanese model would’ve once been frowned upon, but Chinese cars are proving popular in Mexico—and mostly everywhere else, too.