The Light at the End of the Tunnel
These are not the cute and cuddly concepts you're going to be seeing popping up for the Tokyo Motor Show. Quite the opposite, in fact. Dodge is on a testosterone high the likes of which we have not seen since the previous heyday of the HEMI back in the '60s and '70s. Coincidence? I don't think so. Dodge is more than happy trying to pigeonhole themselves into "Man brand" status: big, bold, unadulterated muscle and mojo. No offense, but no "chick cars" in this lineup. After years of hanging the
Dodge flag on the Neon, Stratus, and Intrepid, which even seemed tame in their names, the Magnum and Charger have joined the always overwhelming Viper to usher in an era of powerful cars with powerful names - so anyone shying away from such gun-toting designations can just get out of the way.
Not only is Dodge experiencing an image revival, but it is also riding the wave of sales success after sales success. Along with its brand-mates, Chrysler and Jeep, Chrysler Group, otherwise known as DaimlerChrysler Canada north of the 49th, stands to take over the number two sales spot this calendar year, bypassing Ford in the process. But really, I'm not much of a numbers guy, and what gets my engine cranking is a company that takes aggressive,
stylish concepts and puts them into production, with more voice given to the designers than the accountants and marketing mediators. Considering Dodge's willingness to stick to their guns with the Charger and Magnum, I can only hope that what we see in the Caliber and Nitro concepts will live through to production form.
When a car company tells you that a concept is 90 percent true to production, I expect they mean that the overall effect of the design will be retained, while this is often not the case. Case in point, Honda's Si concept diluted to the production Si: remove the skirt package, shrink the wheels, scale back the paint job, and voila, from slammed show car to pedestrian coupe. Still, it's packed with nearly 200-horsepower, and I know that people with the coin to spend tens of thousands on aftermarket parts can buy into the Si and tailor it to their unique standards. It just doesn't have the same presence on the showroom floor, though, and that, in my books, is a disappointment.
These are not the cute and cuddly concepts you're going to be seeing popping up for the Tokyo Motor Show. Quite the opposite, in fact. Dodge is on a testosterone high the likes of which we have not seen since the previous heyday of the HEMI back in the '60s and '70s. Coincidence? I don't think so. Dodge is more than happy trying to pigeonhole themselves into "Man brand" status: big, bold, unadulterated muscle and mojo. No offense, but no "chick cars" in this lineup. After years of hanging the
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| Dodge is on a testosterone high the likes of which we have not seen since the previous heyday of the HEMI back in the '60s and '70s. (Photo: Mathieu St-Pierre, Auto123.com) |
Not only is Dodge experiencing an image revival, but it is also riding the wave of sales success after sales success. Along with its brand-mates, Chrysler and Jeep, Chrysler Group, otherwise known as DaimlerChrysler Canada north of the 49th, stands to take over the number two sales spot this calendar year, bypassing Ford in the process. But really, I'm not much of a numbers guy, and what gets my engine cranking is a company that takes aggressive,
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| I can only hope that what we see in the Caliber and Nitro concepts will live through to production form. (Photo: Éric Descarries) |
When a car company tells you that a concept is 90 percent true to production, I expect they mean that the overall effect of the design will be retained, while this is often not the case. Case in point, Honda's Si concept diluted to the production Si: remove the skirt package, shrink the wheels, scale back the paint job, and voila, from slammed show car to pedestrian coupe. Still, it's packed with nearly 200-horsepower, and I know that people with the coin to spend tens of thousands on aftermarket parts can buy into the Si and tailor it to their unique standards. It just doesn't have the same presence on the showroom floor, though, and that, in my books, is a disappointment.