Automotive News Spills The Beans; Confirms Chrysler 100, Jeep Liberty Based On Dodge Dart Platform
An article in Automotive News lavishing praise on the Chrysler/Fiat merger of equals marriage inadvertently spilled the beans on a couple upcoming products from Marchionne’s minions.
The AN piece, which focuses on the birth of the miracle child known as the Dodge Dart, briefly touches on the car’s platform, known as CUSW. Discussing the ability for CUSW to underpin both C and D segment vehicles, AN states
“Some of those next vehicles are already out in testing, including the successor to the Jeep Liberty that will be built at Chrysler’s Toledo (Ohio) North Assembly plant and a Chrysler 100 hatchback that will join the Dart on the line in Belvidere, Ill. Both of those vehicles are expected in 2013.”
That should provide more grist for the online automotive content mill for the next few weeks. At the very least, all those spy shots of jacked-up Alfa Romeo hatches conclusively prove that the newest Liberty is going to become an American pseudo-Q5 (in the same way that the Grand Cherokee is an American-flavored premium SUV) while the Chrysler 100 exists largely as an offering to Lancia.
If the new Liberty really is going to be a smaller version of the Grand Cherokee – an off-road capable SUV that’s primarily concerned with luxury and on-road manners, then re-naming the car as a “Cherokee” makes a lot of sense. The 100 now looks to be a go after a series of long, drawn out teases from Sergio himself.
And with that said and done, let’s pour one out for the mail Jeep.
More by Derek Kreindler
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Another one bites the dust. Hopefully the Wrangler will make it through this misbegotten CUV craze unmolested. If there is anything that I can personally do to help make CUVs uncool (aside from driving one) please let me know.
If the 100 is going to look anything like the current Lancia Delta, it will be a huge competition to the Foci, Elantras and Cruzes of the world. Small car-based Jeep with a retrofit awd? Don't they have the Compass/Patriot junk for that?
Here's how I understand it. The Chrysler 100 will be a new hatchback based on the Dodge Dart platform (and the US version of the new Lancia Delta). The new Chrysler 200 will be a sedan based on a stretched version of the Dart platform. Likewise, the Compass/Patriot will be replaced by a single model that is built off the Dart platform, and the Liberty replacement (probably called Cherokee) will be built off a stretched version of the the Dart, like the 200. Still up in the air is a replacement for the Dodge Avenger. Rumor is that it will share a smaller RWD platform with an upcoming Alfa sedan. Sergio is trying to eliminate exact duplications from the line-up, like the current Avenger/200 and Grand Caravan/Town & Country. That's why the new Chrysler 100 will be a hatchback, not a sedan like the Dart. He wants them more individually defined at the dealerships.
Don't forget, this single new Dart/Lancia/Jeep architecture is supposed to be stretchable not only lengthwise but in width as well, allowing a wide variety of models in both the compact and midsize classes, all buildable on the same assembly line. That's a neat trick if they can pull it off.