|
February 16, 2006 Detroit’s new concept-based Dodge Hornet will arrive from south of the borderDodge has chosen an unlikely venue — the 2006 Geneva Motor Show — to debut a new small car that it hopes will be a potent weapon in its battle against the torrent of subcompacts flooding North America from Japan and Korea.
What’s more unusual about the Dodge Hornet concept isn’t necessarily the fact that parent DaimlerChrysler is teaming with fellow German auto giant Volkswagen on the car’s development, but that the production version, due in model-year 2008, is expected to be assembled in Mexico — hardly Detroit or Stuttgart’s backyard. Making Dodges in Mexico Enter VW, which last month signed off on a deal to buy minivans from Chrysler in 2008. As a quid pro quo, according to European sources familiar with the discussions, Wolfsburg agreed to provide Auburn Hills with a version of its Polo small-car platform on which to base a new Dodge subcompact for North America and Europe. The Dodge Hornet concept, which will be unveiled in Switzerland on February 28, is said to provide an accurate glimpse of the new VW-based Dodge small car. It is a roomy five-door hatchback with compact exterior dimensions, powered by a twincam, 1.6-liter, four-cylinder engine. Rather than being a smaller clone of the new Dodge Caliber compact, however, the Hornet appears to set the Dodge brand on a fresh styling course that draws more inspiration from recent Japanese small-car designs than from Europe or North America. Supplier sources say the current plan is for VW to build the small Dodge at its Beetle/Jetta plant in Puebla, Mexico, beginning in late 2007 or early 2008. Source:
|
|
February 15, 2006Dodge’s Hornet concept is aptly named. Every trend that has created a buzz on the automotive scene in the past few years can be seen on this little stinger. The Mini Cooper remains the huge success everyone expected it to be, and since Dodge loaned out the Neon 1.6-liter engine for that car, it makes sense that it would want a share of the B-segment spotlight. Thus, the Hornet borrows the Mini’s basic shape (although it is nine inches longer and ten inches wider) and cool full-glass roof. Dodge then added a touch of Scion xB boxyness because interior space is hip these days. And what is trendy if not the Mazda RX-8’s rear half-doors? Throw in a kink of the rear side window and proportionally huge 19-inch wheels, and voilá, you have one fashionable little car. And while street racers have been using colorful window tints for years, Dodge can at least take credit for being the first manufacturer to consider offering the option. The concept is shown with blue glass, but if the Hornet goes into production, Dodge would offer a variety of colors. “The idea is that the car would be available in a limited number of colors,” said Mark Moushegian, principal exterior designer. “The customer selects the contrasting glass color of his or her choice as an accent.”
Internet culture must have inspired the interior design team too, where there’s enough automotive design file sharing to make Limewire.com seem angelically honest. The minimalist design and center stack toggle switches are pure Mini, and the dash design looks curiously close to the Scion xB. There’s a removable carrying case in the driver’s door, borrowed from the otherwise uninspiring and extinct Pontiac Aztek, and right next to it is a first aid kit, adorned with a large Red Cross logo, just like in the Nissan Xterra. But borrowing isn’t a bad thing when it involves good ideas. Recent concepts from Ford, Mazda, Toyota, and Renault have featured flexible interior configurations and space saving seat materials similar to the Hornet’s, and we would like to see someone put these ideas into actual production. Small cars deserve cargo space, too. We applaud Dodge for putting together an automotive innovation yearbook. It isn’t the first time most of the Hornet’s features have been seen, but it is the first time we’ve seen so many clever features on one car. In Dodge’s quest to find international success, they’ve created a fun and functional small hatch that Pabst-drinking, t-bone-eating, truck-driving Americans won’t sneer at on highways. We think that is buzzworthy. Source:
Automobile Mag on Dodge Hornet February 15, 2006The Dodge Hornet concept car was introduced in Geneva. The car, smaller than the Caliber, has a 1.6 liter supercharged engine with 170 hp and 165 lb-ft (224 Nm) of torque (both at 4,000 rpm); the intercooler is visible from the grille, and includes a functional hood scoop. The transmission is a six-speed manual.
From the outside, we would speculate that the Hornet is based on the Volkswagen Polo (given the increasing number of DCX/VW ties which seem to foreshadow another merger), using the Mini engine (that’s a downsized Neon engine, supercharged, but originally developed by Chrysler and Rover for Rovers, including the Mini, and for a subcompact Chrysler Corporation vehicle that was reportedly nixed after Daimler acquired Chrysler.) The body features frameless windows and more glass than current models. The seats have thinner but still comfortable cushions to provide more interior space and make folding easier. Chrysler recently announced that it intends to get more than 1% market share in Europe, and will use the Dodge brand, including the Caliber, to do so; the Caliber’s hatchback design was thought to be friendlier to Europeans. The Hornet may be a sign of things to come as Chrysler tries to get into Europe with a car more suited to the more expensive fuel and smaller streets. However, given that Chrysler has said it would probably partner with another company to build a smaller-than-Caliber vehicle, one question is – what is the Hornet based on? It certainly is heavy by class standards. Source:
|
