Dodge Hornet gets the green light
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The Dodge Hornet is about to be officially a go. Dodge's Euro B-segment entrant will be produced with Chinese automaker Chery, and won't have a Chrysler-branded counterpart. The show car, from the 2006 Geneva show, had a supercharged 4-cylinder with 170 hp, and got to 60 in 6.7 seconds. Autocar believes the production version may bow as early as this September at the Frankfurt Motor Show, though we think that's a bit optimistic.
The good thing is that the Hornet's impending production is part of Chrysler's 3-year, $3-billion product renewal program, which has been "confirmed" since Cerberus bought the company. Though it will likely debut at a European auto show, we have high hopes that Chrysler will bring its Chinese-built B-car to the U.S., as well.
[Source: Autocar]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Azrael4h 6:14PM (6/06/2007)
Bring it to the US with a diesel offering. That's all I have to say about that.
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tikirob 6:14PM (6/06/2007)
well Dodge needs a small car. The Caliber is too big to fit in that segment. I guess we will see how well a Chinese-built car will sell or compete.
Rob
http://www.autoshortlist.com
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Arnie 6:17PM (6/06/2007)
A Chinese Chrysler-badged car is going to work wonders for the image! Genious! So, when is Chery (the Chinese Government) going to buy Chrysler - or have they already?
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person935 7:25PM (6/06/2007)
"Genious," eh? It might not be a /genius/ move, but Chrysler needs to do something to move ahead, and this is probably the most efficient way to quickly get a new small car on the market. Hopefully it'll work out.
3cubedminus3squared 6:21PM (6/06/2007)
I hope they bring it over here, like GM has done, and not leave it in Europe like Ford has done with some of their products.
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J.Crew 6:22PM (6/06/2007)
Ship it over... what is the difference? Get used to it as this will happen a lot in the future unless new trade laws are setup.
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Big Mike Wood 6:42PM (6/06/2007)
Hasn't this thing been green lighted like 15 times over the past 3 years? This thing isn't even out yet and I'm tired of looking at it.
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whofan 6:39PM (6/06/2007)
This would make a great Plymouth vehicle. How about Plymouth Cricket?
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Poe 12:10AM (6/07/2007)
Yeah, that would be a great idea... except for the fact that Chrysler killed off the Plymouth brand a long time ago.
adam 6:46PM (6/06/2007)
This is the car the should have replaced the Neon.
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Gunderson 6:58PM (6/06/2007)
I like how its ok if the Domestics go oversees build plants and import to USA but its bad if imports come here and build plants.
Profits are about 5-10% of the purchase price. I rather have the profit leave our country and keep 90% then have 90% leave our country and we get 10%.
Outsourcing is not good people!
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James 7:29PM (6/06/2007)
Are you kidding me? Please explain why outsourcing is bad. If you're using outsourcing in context with offshoring to imply that the loss of jobs in the US is "bad", then I urge you to consider that offshore outsourcing does not mean higher unemployment as you imply.
In regards to "leaving the profit in the US", that depends on your point of view. The inherent nature of outsourcing is to increase efficiency, thus, maximizing returns. Surely, GM/Ford/Chrysler will benefit the most from offshoring the manufacturing to lower wage countries, such as China. Costs will decrease for these companies, while any decrease in quality will surely come as a result of poor quality control and not be related directly to offshoring. For countries such as China, while it may be hard to believe, standard of living increases as jobs are created. In contrast, the US may lose low-skill jobs, but productivity increases as the workforce can concentrate on improving their skill-set and drive innovation.
Still not convinced that outsourcing is good? In that case, why do many small, medium, and large employers outsource HR/payroll/administration?
The car should have been made and produced already. Corporate beaucracy is ridiculous. Did Chrysler really have trouble figuring out of this car would do well with current consumer sentiment about gas prices and large cars?
RWD fan 7:03PM (6/06/2007)
Seems ok to me. It's not as if Chrysler's image has anything left to be tarnished by anyways.
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... 7:21PM (6/06/2007)
man, the nitro got a whole lot uglier
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Lee Gibson 7:23PM (6/06/2007)
"is about to be officially a go."
Come again?
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Arnie 5:05AM (6/07/2007)
person935
I was trying to be sarcastic but it probably did not succeed. But anyway, I wish Chrysler luck in doing business in China. They will need it for sure. Most businesses doing business there will end up with a strange ache in their collective rectum sooner or later from being screwed.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6725769.stm
Max 7:27PM (6/06/2007)
By the time this thing reaches production, no one will even care about it. The market will literally be flooded with B-segment cars by that time. Ford, Suzuki, GM and Nissan all have confirmed models that should be appearing by 2010. The hornet is going to look old by the time it reaches the showroom.
Chrysler has gotten into a bad habit of stalling production of cars that were very well received. WTF ever happened to the razor?
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adelossa 7:44PM (6/06/2007)
The suicide passenger doors reminds me of the element - which I hated.
I can hear the loud exhausts zooming by while I walk on the streets already.
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Mal Fuller 7:53PM (6/06/2007)
I hope the Chinese make better automobiles than they do toothpaste.
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Christopher Watts 11:39AM (6/08/2007)
ROFL LMAO!