New Dodge Linchpin of Chrysler-Fiat Alliance?

Chrysler stakeholders regard it as the most important vehicle the auto maker will launch in 2012.

Acknowledged by executives only in the vaguest terms, the “Dodge Compact Car” – the first vehicle in the Chrysler-brand family to feature a Fiat-derived platform – could hold significance that goes much deeper.

“New Dodge Compact” platform derived from Alfa Romeo Giulietta.

From a bird’s-eye view, it is the acid test for Chrysler’s ability to adapt Fiat platforms, which are anticipated to account for 56% of the auto maker’s worldwide car volume by 2014.

On the ground, where sales wars are won and lost, the new sedan promises fresh leverage for dealers seeking to cultivate a new crop of repeat customers, the lifeblood of any showroom.

U.S. sales chief Reid Bigland suggests the Dodge Caliber replacement, expected to debut in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit, will at least nudge Chrysler’s longstanding mix away from light trucks. “This will impact our business,” he tells WardsAuto in an email.

Chrysler could use a high-impact product to rebalance a sales ratio that steadily has been skewing away from cars since 2008, when the split was 72:28 in favor of light trucks. Through October, that margin was 74:26, according to WardsAuto data.

The cool reception given the Caliber, launched in 2006, is symbolic of Chrysler’s weakness in the C-segment. Through October, sales of the much-maligned hatchback ranked 15 of 22 Upper Small nameplates in the U.S. market, according to WardsAuto segmentation.

But Bigland is confident. The Dodge Compact Car “will be a game-changer in a segment that historically has been synonymous with bland,” he says. “Wait ’til you see it.”

A source who has seen the Caliber replacement says it is not a “wow car” on the sports-car scale. But for the segment in which it will compete, its appearance will suggest sportiness.

This is consistent with a vision of the car previously described to WardsAuto by Ralph Gilles, Chrysler’s design chief. Gilles likened a test mule’s ride and handling to that of the nimble Volkswagen Golf.

The Dodge Compact car certainly has the pedigree. It is based on a platform dubbed CUSW, short for C-U.S. Wide, which is derived from Fiat’s C-Evo front-wheel-drive architecture. The C-Evo shoulders the acclaimed European-market Alfa Romeo Giulietta hatchback.

An Alfa Romeo news release describing the Giulietta strongly hints at the robustness of its platform. The C-Evo’s modularity makes it “ideal for use on a family of vehicles with different wheelbases and tracks,” Alfa says.

“This modularity is provided by several central floor panels and the side members. (This) means that the system can be applied to other vehicle systems without modification.” This design affords improved performance and reduced weight, Alfa adds.

“We as dealers are eager to start selling the all new C-segment car,” says Alfred Flores, owner of Spring Chrysler Deep Dodge in Spring, TX, and a Chrysler dealer council member.

David Kelleher, also a member of the dealer council and owner of David Dodge Chrysler Jeep and Ram in Glen Mills, PA, puts a finer point on the anticipation. The Caliber has not brought new, entry-level clientele into Chrysler showrooms.

“Let’s face it, the Dodge Caliber has been kind of a miss for us,” he says. “This is a huge, huge car for the dealer body. We’re going to get a customer we can groom up.”

Chrysler’s lineup slowly is being streamlined to accommodate a selling strategy that enables dealers to offer clear alternatives as their customers mature. “We won’t be selling anything on the lot that competes against itself,” Kelleher tells WardsAuto, citing Chrysler’s decision to eliminate the Dodge Nitro in favor of its platform-mate, the Jeep Liberty.

The Dodge Compact Car will launch as a sedan, though one source says a hatchback is being considered. It also will benefit from significant powertrain upgrades, including an enhanced variant of Chrysler’s in-line 4-cyl. World Engine.

Codenamed Tiger Shark, the engine will feature Fiat’s MultiAir advanced valve-actuation technology. Chrysler’s new 9-speed automatic transmission, a world-first for FWD vehicles equipped with transverse-mounted engines, also is destined for the Dodge Compact Car.

The car will be assembled at Chrysler’s plant in Belvidere, IL, now home to the Caliber. The auto maker has pumped $600 million into a site expansion.

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