Dodge to resurrect ‘Fratzog’ logo for new electric vehicles

DETROIT – Dodge will use a throwback logo called the “Fratzog” for its upcoming electrified vehicles, CEO Tim Kuniskis told CNBC.

The Fratzog – a made up word by a designer – was initially used by Dodge from 1962 through 1976. It features a split deltoid made of three arrowhead shapes that form a three-pointed star. The new version is designed to be three-dimensional and include LED lightning.

“It damn near looks like something that Doc Brown would have done,” Kuniskis said, referring to the fictional inventor from “Back to the Future” during a recent drag racing event in suburban Detroit. “It looks very futuristic and electrified, and it’s our history, which is what we do.”

The resurrected logo was first shown last month on a Dodge concept vehicle that was previewed by its Stellantis parent company during an “EV Day” for investors. Dodge also used the logo alongside its current red-striped one at the “Roadkill Night powered by Dodge” drag racing event, which annually attracts tens of thousands of people in Pontiac, Michigan.

Stellantis – the merged automaker between Fiat Chrysler and French automaker PSA Groupe – plans to invest at least $35.5 billion (30 billion euros) in electric vehicles and supporting technologies through 2025.

Kuniskis said the Fratzog is not intended to be a subbrand of Dodge. It will be used on electric vehicles as a way to separate them from others models, according to Kuniskis. He declined to specify if the new logo will be used exclusively on all-electric vehicles or also include hybrid and plug-in hybrid models.

Dodge, which has positioned itself as a muscle car brand, is expected to better detail its electrification plans in the fourth quarter ahead of launching a plug-in hybrid model in 2022 and an all-electric muscle car in 2024. The concept with the Fratzog logo is expected to be unveiled early next year, Kuniskis said.

The logo is a way to easily identify the vehicles without changing their design characteristics, potentially meaning that the brand will have new vehicles that offer gas, electric or hybrid systems to power the vehicles. It’s similar to Dodge’s current strategy of offering different levels of performance – mostly V-6 and V-8 engines – in its lineup of vehicles, including its well-known Hellcat logo for a line of current 700-plus horsepower models.

“We don’t want them to look radically different because we want you all to be part of the same thing,” Kuniskis said referring to Dodge’s so-called “Brotherhood of Muscle” ownership community. “So, we said, ‘OK,’ if you have electrification in your car, we don’t want you to be screaming, ‘I have electrification.”

A designer at Dodge’s then-parent company Chrysler Corp. made up the word Fratzog for the logo, according to a spokesman.