Dodge Dart Platform Will Underpin Chrysler 200, Jeep Compass Replacement

by Derek Kreindler

Published: January 25th, 2012

dodge dart platform will underpin chrysler 200 jeep compass replacement

A USA Today interview with Sergio Marchionne revealed some interesting details about Chrysler’s future product plans – among them, a wider adoption of the Dodge Dart/Alfa Romeo Giulietta platform, a possible small hatch dubbed the “Chrysler 100” and Alfa Romeos built on American soil.

The upcoming replacements for the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler 200 will ride on a version of the Dodge Dart platform, though nothing was said about earlier reports of the Avenger being axed. The Jeep Compass and Patriot will also use these underpinnings, with Marchionne stating “It’s gonna be a trail-rated, full-blooded Jeep that has its origins in the architecture of a sports car.”

A compact hatchback, dubbed the Chrysler 100 is being considered, and if approved, the car would be badged as a Lancia in Europe. Alfa Romeo’s on-and-off plans to come to America are still in motion with a planned 2013 debut, with American built Alfas being exported to Europe eventually. Marchionne also talked of new, lightweight vehicles and a 1.8L 4-cylinder motor with a turbocharger than can produce as much as 300 horsepower.

#AlfaRomeo #AmericanCars #Chrysler #Chrysler200 #Dodge #DodgeAvenger #DodgeDart #Fiat #Jeep #JeepCompass #SergioMarchionne #JeepLiberty

Derek Kreindler

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7 of 26 comments

Tankinbeans on Jan 25, 2012

Could Chrysler make a snazzy version called an Arrow?

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- Threeer on Jan 25, 2012
  
  That would HAVE to be a hatchback version....AND have a hot-rod version called the Fire Arrow...oh, and have a houndstooth interior option! Then I'd be interested (having owned two Arrows back in the day)...:)
  
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- Lorenzo on Jan 26, 2012
  
  @threeer Houndstooth, huh? Well, forget it. All interiors are your choice of black, gray, black/gray and cream. No exceptions. Sigh. I remember when you could get plaid...
  
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FJ60LandCruiser on Jan 26, 2012

”It’s gonna be a trail-rated, full-blooded Jeep that has its origins in the architecture of a sports car.” Contradiction. "Trail-rated" has become more or less of a euphemism, the same way an Evoque is an off road Land Rover in comparison to the foreign market Defender. I lament the bizarre transformations and sex changes Jeep has undergone since it was sold by AMC to Chrysler and so forth. I shudder to think what the man from La Mancha will do to the Rubicon (the only remaining off road Jeep).

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- Lorenzo on Jan 26, 2012
  
  You may be describing the future, but not the present. Trail-rated (R in a circle) is a Jeep creation, but it still has standards. The only thing Chrysler did wrong was drop the Wagoneer name. It was AMC that dropped the body on frame for unibody, and it was an improvement. Jeep fans may wish they had the torque of the old 232 and 258 I-6s compared to the I-4s but the original Jeep was a much weaker I-4. Unibodies today have all the stiffness they need for off-road service, and they're more crashworthy on roads than ever before. Sergio might just be smart enough to avoid killing a cash cow he's depending on for global sales.
  
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Hriehl1 on Jan 26, 2012

The domestic market is only so big. Growing markets, like China, are largely closed. So with some firms on-the-rise (Ford, GM, Hyundai, Kia, Audi, VW) in our market, much of that is coming out of others' hides. Chrysler is demonstrably the weakest player with any serious volume... they're behind in product, dealer-quality, and somewhat shakey financially. It will be their hide. To me they look a lot like American Motors looked in 1975... not so much a question of if, but when.

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Volt 230 on Jan 26, 2012

Build the 200 and the Compass out of a small car platform, same as the Caliber, except they went one step further and the Journey was born, so this is the NEW Chrysler?

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