Dodge left the compact segment when then owner – critics say looter – Daimler killed Neon in 2005. Più automobili Fiat base sono in corso.
There was some grumblings among my mid-western friends who as ‘Buy American’ types balked when they learned that the new 2013 Dodge Dart was actually an Alfa Romeo underneath.
“No way I’m buying a Fiat Dart” went the gut reaction quip. Well, if these Chrysler loyalists don’t eventually join a larger number of other converts in buying what looks to be the first competitive compact car from Dodge in decades – if not forever – then the whole turnaround plan for Fiat-owned Chrysler is doomed.
Dodge Dart is merely the first among many new Chrysler Group vehicles that will use a Fiat-designed and derived architecture. In Dart’s case the Alfa Romeo Giulietta, albeit with its dimensions made wider and longer for American drivers’ preferences for larger cars. Dart is important, first, because the C-car segment in the U.S. is large, with sales of roughly 1.6 million vehicles annually in a fiercely competitive field, and the Dodge Caliber it replaces wasn’t successful.
The Dart also is significant because it is the initial market test of Chrysler and Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne’s bet that combining Chrysler and Fiat – courtesy of billions in U.S. and Canadian taxpayer dollars – can produce a company that can successfully design, develop, assemble and wholesale vehicles under Fiat’s control. It’s no secret that under the plan, the majority of Chrysler vehicles by 2014 will be based on ‘donor’ architectures, engines and other major components from Italian based Fiat.
“The Dart interior takes the beautiful, precision-crafted interiors we rolled out last year and adds a little bit of fun with surprises of color, eye-catching ambient lighting and some really cool technology,” gushed Klaus Busse, Head of Interior Design.
The U.S. Dart is in many ways similar to the original Ford Focus (C170) that was derived from a European Ford design more than a decade ago – and the Dart faces the same challenges as well. Though Daart is bigger than that Focus, a decided plus in North America, and with much more content, it remains to be seen if Dart’s U.S. suppliers can rise to the quality challenge posed by competing small Japanese and possibly Korean cars.
At Ford they couldn’t and more than 10 recalls were conducted in the first year or so after Focus went on sale. The quality jury is still out on the newly introduced European-derived Focus, which after cash-strapped Ford skipped the previous European revision by cynically offering a re-skinned older C170 or the original car warmed over, finally returned last year to the latest European update. In an ominous sign of the trouble Detroit Three makers still have promoting small cars, the new Focus was surpassed by the Hyundai Elantra as this year’s North American Car of the Year.
General Motors, too, has had trouble peddling Opel-derived products in the U.S., notably at the now defunct Saturn brand. However, the Opel derived Buick Regal – a much larger, more expensive offering than Dart – has thus far experienced no quality issues and is a moderate sales success.
That’s not a dent in the rear quarter, just a quirk caused by light on the sheet metal shape.
Dodge exited this large compact car segment when then owner – critics say looter – Daimler killed the Neon in 2005 – as gasoline was relatively cheap at just over $2 a gallon and truck and SUV sales were booming. Minivans and trucks and SUVs still account for almost 80% of Chrysler Group sales and more than that in profits. The Neon nameplate goes back to the 1995 when Bob Lutz, then at Chrysler, boasted it would beat the Japanese in the economy car segment during an earlier NAIAS. As with so much of Lutz’s product hyping bluster, Neon in reality didn’t come close.
The 2013 Dodge Dart – unlike its ‘60s versions – will be powered by three four-cylinder engines: First is what’s dubbed a new Tigershark 16-valve 2-liter engine, a 16-valve 1.4-liter MultiAir Turbo engine, and a new Tigershark 16-valve 2.4-liter MultiAir. Transmissions include a six-speed manual, six-speed automatic or six-speed dual dry clutch (DDCT). IT’s a complicated lineup.
“The all-new Dodge Dart is the showpiece for Dodge’s next generation philosophy of interior design,” said Klaus Busse, Head of Interior Design — Chrysler Group LLC. “The Dart interior takes the beautiful, precision-crafted interiors we rolled out last year and adds a little bit of fun with surprises of color, eye-catching ambient lighting and some really cool technology.”
The 2013 Dodge Dart will be available in five trim levels: SE, SXT, Rallye, Limited and R/T – in what seems a needlessly complex array of build combinations, which always presents a quality challenge. And the combinations are multiplied exponentially, as Mopar also will offer more than 150 customization options and “themed” packages. Dart will be built in the United States at Chrysler Group’s Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois starting the second quarter of 2012.
The Alfa Romeo brand, allegedly, will be reintroduced to the U.S. in 2013 as part of the newly reborn Fiat franchise. Fiat dealers in the U.S. now only have the 500 and some variants, including a just introduced Abarth performance version to sell until then. It could be a long slog for Fiat dealers, since 500 sales at 20,000 in 2011 are currently well below expectations of 50,000 annually. Fiat has torn up its original BMW Mini-like marketing plan in favor of flashy celebrity ads.
Worse, the Alfa reintroduction plan has been repeatedly revised, seemingly changing as many times as Italy changes governments. The latest Alfa plan is to introduce the first model–a two-seater 4C GTA in 2013 with a sedan following a year later. Whether the actual Dart donor care, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta – a lovely four-seat compact in Europe – makes it back into to the U.S. is unclear.
Marchionne has said Alfa Romeo and Jeep are the only two brands of Fiat and Chrysler with global potential because they are the most easily identified by consumers nearly everywhere. Everywhere means first proving the Dart can overcome Fiat’s dreadful quality reputation in the U.S., because otherwise the revival plan is going nowhere.
