Dodge Hornet
Last Updated:
Chrysler is talking about Chinese car maker Chery about building the Hornet.
Earlier talks with VW went nowhere apparently.
The first Chinese Dodge???
Last Updated:
Chrysler is talking about Chinese car maker Chery about building the Hornet.
Earlier talks with VW went nowhere apparently.
The first Chinese Dodge???
Vince, I read somewhere on the web someone saying that DCX always gets near death then invents a wonder car (van) ala K-Car or Minivan. Then inevitably they start designing crap again.
We’re in that same boat. The 300/Magnum were saving graces for DCX, but since then we’ve had a weak Caliber, a joke Compass, a horrible Commander, an ugly Charger, a hated by God Sebring… and this….ugly little thing.
What happens over there at DCX Vince??
Oh yeah, good idea Dodge… This will clear up your companies perception of making unreliable cars. Go for it!
It will probably have the best fit and finish of the chrysler cars… Chrysler is a joke.t’s one of the few remaining companies plagued with sub-standard quality of assembly.
Well, let me see, the chevy Equinox, while the v6 is lambasted as weak, it is not unreliable, and it is built in China. This would most likely be built under DCX scrutiny.
My only issue is the thing is as big as a shoe box!
I like smaller cars(where I live, these guys think that everything over 18 feet long is safe, and anything less is “deadly”…whatever)but this is about 16-18 inches too short for me(read 151-152 inches long, or about 12.5 feet end to end.Not Good. Gimme at least 14 feet minimum,more “Crunch room” in case I get hit by one of the local rednecks who think that only a tank is safe thing to drive(and it must be Big 2.5 built, too, roll-eyes).
I have no qualms about vehicles made for another company, by the Chinese( hey, look at your shoes, shirts, eletronics…probably from China these days, or Vietnam).
Honda builds Fits in China, and when sales were(I said were…they sold 8000 on month, and last month about 2,000+ or so units, less than Hyundai Acccent, which sold 3000+ units in Aug)they thought they were going to bring some Chinese Fits into USA, if the sales kept up(which they did not, Yaris sales did, though).
I bet hardly no one would have flamed Honda for Chinese built Fits in USA.
Most sites, people loved this design(170HP, turbo)….
Mini-engine.
chrysler , I read, did help Mini with the design of thier engine(This engine?).
Watever… Just put the new (next gen) Cruiser on the Claiber platform(thus, making it nearly 5 inhces total length longer than the current model)and make this
Toy around the current PT size(or at least Rabbit’s nearly 165 totla length, another foot+ of “Crunch” room from bumper-2-bumper, at least. Then it would still be about 10 inches shroter than the PT Cruiser, and could sell as the larger, more expensive vehicle, family vehilce for 5, and this thing for 4 adults).
Chrysler will probably make it too short, and end up selling ok for a short time, then sales take a dive.
Why not just build a Neon sized CAR, that does not look like a truck(is that all they know anyhow, truck designs for everything they build?), and give it 170HP?
Not Avenger, either. Something smaller.
Ahhhh!
The Equinox is not from China.
Just the engine.
I would not buy anything made in China, perhaps a girl, but that is it. If Honda’s made these cars in China for the US, I would have a sh-t fit. I am not really happy
they also make them here in the US and always believe
the Japanese made cars were more superior
in quality as well as the JDM themselves.
Did you know the JDM Civics offer on some models
traction control, Stability control and even AWD?
They even offer better transmissions, paddle shifting
and tiptronic like gear housing. Also a better design.
Why do Americans always get the cheap stuff?
I don’t trust local Chinese factories. Crash tests on their product are terrible. This could be due to design (older computer programs? inability to write their own programs with a lack of generic programs?), materials (steel grades? less willingness to use different grades in different body locations?), or construction (fewer or poorer welds?).
Making a toaster oven is a lot easier than making a car. Dodge themselves had bad crash tests on the Neon.
Making cars in an “exported factory” in China – like Honda – is different from making cars in a Chinese owned factory. If VW made the cars in their China factory, or Honda in their China factory, I wouldn’t have a problem. But a local manufacturer making them in their own factory? Dubious.
Remember only a few years ago Hyundai and Kia had horrible crash tests. China is way at the beginning of the learning curve.
Ixnay on a bad idea.
All the bashing is basically FEAR and IGNORANCE. The same bashing when Japanese cars first hit the states, then Korean, and now China. No doubt, next guilty by association will be India. Now ask yrself this… Given equal price, would you prefer a honda accord built in Japan, or accord built in USA? Be honest.
I loved the Hornet when I first saw in on the Auto Show circuit last spring. I want one, and if made by Chery and at $10,000 I might still buy one. I was afraid the price would not have been reasonable if made in North America or Europe, but this may work out pretty well for DCX.