Halloween was less than a week ago, but many stores are already advertising Christmas decorations and Black Friday sales. They aren’t the only ones getting into the holiday spirit as Dodge has unveiled Santa’s new sleigh.
Introduced as part of the company’s “Big Finish” campaign, the sleigh is based on the 2019 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat Redeye which features a supercharged 6.2-liter V8 engine that produces 797 hp (594 kW / 808 PS) and 707 lb-ft (957 Nm) of torque. In traditional form, the car can rocket from 0-60 mph (0-96 km/h) in 3.4 seconds before hitting a top speed of 203 mph (326 km/h).
The ad is appropriately called “Upgrade” and it features a rather unconventional Santa – played by former professional wrestler Bill Goldberg – looking at this old sleigh and deciding it’s time for something new. His elves get to work and create a one-off sleigh which features a chopped windscreen, an open air cabin and a side existing exhaust.
Dodge even replaced the Hellcat logo unique a unique reindeer design. That’s notable because Dodge will begin selling t-shirts featuring the holiday logo on its website. The shirts will eventually be joined by other holiday merchandise including Santa’s sweater.
While we’ve seen countless automakers give their take on Santa’s sleigh, Dodge is pretty proud of their effort and the company will “chronicle the elves’ entire process of overhauling Santa’s sleigh” beginning in December. Details are limited, but the company is describing the effort as a “social series” which will be shown on Dodge’s YouTube channel.
Besides Upgrade, FCA will begin airing an assortment of other holiday commercials featuring models such as Chrysler Pacifica and the Ram 1500. Some of the ads will have music from artists such as Gwen Stefani and OneRepublic. The a latter’s “White Christmas” will be available to download for free on Jeep’s website.