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This vehicle is a C-segment car. It's very small, some say it's actually built off the VW Polo chassis. The Nitro is a Midsize SUV and the Caliber is almost in the Small/Midsize Car segment. It uses the same engine the BMW Mini uses, the 1.6l 170hp 4cyl, which was co-developed between BMW and DCX. I dont think they look identical, i mean, if you think a grille and headlights make up a cars whole design and identity, then sure they look the same. But seriously, these three look nothing alike There's no reason why this car wouldn't be a hit, look at Scion, they make some hideous looking vehicles and have managed to sell 47,013 Xb's, 28,062 Xc's, and 24,184 Xa's. There's a market for small fuel efficient cars that have utility as well as unique looks. This car has more neat features than the Scions, the seats, motor, design etc..
This assessment is right on the money.
My personal prediction: This WILL see production (toned-down and somewhat neutered, with smaller wheels & tires, of course), as a sub-Caliber entry-level model. And, yes, it will be essentially a rebodied VW Polo.
The engine situation is interesting. I thought it'd use VW engines, but I hadn't realized that the Hornet concept uses the BMW/DCX co-op engine from the current Mini. With the next-gen Mini going to Peugeot engines, what to do with all those current BMW/DCX engines from the Brazilian plant? The Hornet seems to be a good place to stick them into.
An SRT version, someone asked? There better be one, and, knowing Dodge, I'd fully expect one. And there's several intriguing powerplant possibilities for that one, as well. If it gets VW power, the 1.4-liter Twincharger (turbo and supercharger) engine just launched in the Polo, the Mini Cooper S engine, as used in the actual Hornet concept (if they go BMW/DCX) or even the smallest (1.8-liter/143 hp) engine from the Dodge Caliber (DCX/Hyundai/Mitsubishi joint venture).
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My personal prediction: This WILL see production (toned-down and somewhat neutered, with smaller wheels & tires, of course), as a sub-Caliber entry-level model. And, yes, it will be essentially a rebodied VW Polo.
The engine situation is interesting. I thought it'd use VW engines, but I hadn't realized that the Hornet concept uses the BMW/DCX co-op engine from the current Mini. With the next-gen Mini going to Peugeot engines, what to do with all those current BMW/DCX engines from the Brazilian plant? The Hornet seems to be a good place to stick them into.
An SRT version, someone asked? There better be one, and, knowing Dodge, I'd fully expect one. And there's several intriguing powerplant possibilities for that one, as well. If it gets VW power, the 1.4-liter Twincharger (turbo and supercharger) engine just launched in the Polo, the Mini Cooper S engine (if they go BMW/DCX) or even the smallest (1.8-liter/143 hp) engine from the Dodge Caliber (DCX/Hyundai/Mitsubishi joint venture).
Yea, I was a little surprised that this wouldn't use a boosted "World Engine" ie: 1.8, 2.0, 2.4. But your theory of the left over 1.6's could be correct. All in all, I believe we feel the same about this car.
Yea, I was a little surprised that this wouldn't use a boosted "World Engine" ie: 1.8, 2.0, 2.4. But your theory of the left over 1.6's could be correct. All in all, I believe we feel the same about this car.
Definitely!
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
the overall body of the car reminds me of a scion that got raped by a dodge truck....
__________________
Industry Editor, Moderator, All-around Car Nut and the official my.IS Grandpa
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
This vehicle is a C-segment car. It's very small, some say it's actually built off the VW Polo chassis. The Nitro is a Midsize SUV and the Caliber is almost in the Small/Midsize Car segment. It uses the same engine the BMW Mini uses, the 1.6l 170hp 4cyl, which was co-developed between BMW and DCX. I dont think they look identical, i mean, if you think a grille and headlights make up a cars whole design and identity, then sure they look the same. But seriously, these three look nothing alike There's no reason why this car wouldn't be a hit, look at Scion, they make some hideous looking vehicles and have managed to sell 47,013 Xb's, 28,062 Xc's, and 24,184 Xa's. There's a market for small fuel efficient cars that have utility as well as unique looks. This car has more neat features than the Scions, the seats, motor, design etc..
Hey that's spot on! That's what www.dodge-hornet.com is reporting too. The car is based off Polo, will be built in VW's Mexico plant and will start production late 2007 / early 2008.
Hey that's spot on! That's what www.dodge-hornet.com is reporting too. The car is based off Polo, will be built in VW's Mexico plant and will start production late 2007 / early 2008.
Fantastic find! I can't believe that the Dodge Hornet info has only been out less than a week yet it already has its own "fan site" on the Internet!
__________________
Industry Editor, Moderator, All-around Car Nut and the official my.IS Grandpa
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
first thing my mind saw was "Coronet" and I got all excited. But that hornet, I agree, is too much like the Scion xA which didn't sell well at all! I love the interior, but the front end is kinda busy!
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don't know why people think I'm too patronising (that -means- I -treat -them- as- if -they're - stupid).
It uses the same engine the BMW Mini uses, the 1.6l 170hp 4cyl, which was co-developed between BMW and DCX.
Maybe it won't after all, according to a surprising story from The New York Times. Here's an edited version:
China Seeking Auto Industry, Piece by Piece
By KEITH BRADSHER
CHONGQING, China, Feb. 16 — China is pursuing a novel way to catapult its automaking into a global force: buy one of the world's most sophisticated engine plants, take it apart, piece by piece, transport it halfway around the globe and put it back together again at home.
In the latest sign of this country's manufacturing ambitions, a major Chinese company, hand-in-hand with the Communist Party, is bidding to buy from DaimlerChrysler and BMW a car engine plant in Brazil.
Because the plant is so sophisticated, it is far more feasible for the Chinese carmaker, the Lifan Group, to go through such an effort to move it 8,300 miles, rather than to develop its own technology in this industrial hub in western China, the company's president said Thursday.
If the purchase succeeds — and it is early in the process — China could leapfrog competitors like South Korea to catch up with Japan, Germany and the United States in selling some of the most fuel-efficient yet comfortable cars on the market, like the Honda Civic or the Toyota Corolla.
The engine plant is one of the most famous and unusual in the auto industry. Built in southern Brazil in the late 1990's at a cost of $500 million by a 50-50 joint venture of Chrysler and BMW, the Campo Largo factory combines the latest American and German technology to produce the 1.6-liter, 16-valve Tritec engine.
Lifan says it is the sole bidder for the factory and wants to bring it here to start producing engines in 2008. Though China's Communist Party is actively behind the effort, the bold moves are being driven by one of China's remarkable entrepreneurs: Yin Mingshan has become one of China's most successful and most politically connected corporate executives, with a hardscrabble upbringing that included spending 22 years of his earlier life in Communist labor camps and prison as punishment for his political dissent.
Now the enormously wealthy and prominent president and principal owner of Lifan, Mr. Yin has his sights on exporting to Europe in 2008 and the American market in 2009.
Trevor Hale, a DaimlerChrysler spokesman, and Marc Hassinger, a Bayerische Motoren Werke spokesman, each said separately that their companies were assessing their options for when their joint venture legal agreement expires at the end of next year, but that it was premature to provide details.
The Tritec engine is one of the most technologically sophisticated and fuel-efficient car engines in the world, said Yale Zhang, an analyst in the Shanghai office of CSM Worldwide, a big auto consulting company based in the Detroit suburbs. Mr. Yin said he wanted to rebuild the factory on vacant land next door to his car assembly plant here. His goal is to understand the technology thoroughly so that he can supply engines not only for Lifan but also for other Chinese automakers.
Any attempt to buy a comparable factory in the United States might be blocked. But Mr. Yin said that Brazil did not have comparable restrictions on the export of high technology.
Chrysler and BMW began construction of the Campo Largo factory in April 1998, a month before Daimler-Benz began a takeover of Chrysler that it completed in November of that year. Heralded in the automotive press at the time as arguably the most advanced engine factory ever built, the factory had already become a corporate orphan by the time production began in September, 1999.
The Brazilian auto market had entered a slump by then and Daimler already had ample engine manufacturing capacity of its own and was uncomfortable collaborating with its longtime German rival, BMW.
BMW installs its half of the engines from the factory in its award-winning Mini Coopers. But it has already announced that future engines for these cars will come from a factory in France that is owned and operated by PSA Peugeot Citroën.
Chrysler used to put the Brazilian-made engines in its Neon compact cars and the PT Cruiser. But it is now selling its half of the engines to Lifan and to Chery Automotive and a Chinese joint venture by Mazda.
Mr. Yin and spokesmen from DaimlerChrysler and BMW declined to comment on the price under negotiation for the factory.
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Industry Editor, Moderator, All-around Car Nut and the official my.IS Grandpa
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
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There's no reason why this car wouldn't be a hit, look at Scion, they make some hideous looking vehicles and have managed to sell 47,013 Xb's, 28,062 Xc's, and 24,184 Xa's. There's a market for small fuel efficient cars that have utility as well as unique looks. This car has more neat features than the Scions, the seats, motor, design etc..
