What's Wrong With This Picture: New Lows In Brand Engineering Edition
Under the terms of its contract with the US Treasury, Fiat will get an additional five percent of Chrysler Group’s equity when it builds a 40 MPG (CAFE, not EPA, so actually about 30 MPG) vehicle in the US. But it turns out that Dodge already sells a car that might qualify… unfortunately, Dodge doesn’t actually build it, offer it in the US, or, starting with the 2012 model year, even bother to rebadge the thing. That’s right, you’re looking at a 2012 Hyundai Dodge Attitude… the only non-red, and one of the only non-Dodge-branded car in the brand’s Mexican lineup [the Hyundai Atos and H100 “Ram Van” are also badged with the Korean brand’s “H.”
Sajeev Mehta has reviewed the previous Dodge Attitude, which Chrysler went to the trouble of creating new badges for, but based on the look of things at dodge.mx, the 2012 Hyundai Accent is clearly something of an odd man out in the lineup. And with Fiat doubtless looking for sales in Mexico, it’s not clear how the Chrysler-Hyundai partnership will last in Mexico… but for the moment it appears Chrysler is pursuing a renewal of its deal with the Koreans. After all, rebadged Hyundais constitute over a quarter of Chrysler’s Mexican sales. And maybe they’ll do even better now that they’re not rebadging them.
More by Edward Niedermeyer
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Dont forget the new RAM Van as well: http://www.camionesram.com.mx/autos-nuevos/h100-wagon-2012/ So its not just the Accent that they don't bother to re-badge...
Dodge hasn't bothered to rebadge its Hyundai products in years (if it ever did at all). I lived in Mexico in 2006, and recall visiting a Dodge display at a local shopping mall with an Atos proudly sporting the italicized H.
Even Renault/Nissan is bringing Korean cars rebadged, the Fluence is no other than a Samsung car and what about GM's Cruze, an Daewoo Lucetti rebranded. However the quality at least on finishings of the Fluence as well as the Cruze looks good, we'll see in a few years about their reliability. Saludos from Mexico
I see the last generation Hyundai Accent badged as the Dodge Attitude on the road with Mexico plates here in San Diego commonly.