Dodge Dart May Get Performance Boost

WASHINGTON – The Dodge Dart compact car may be getting a performance boost to better fit into the brand’s lineup, says CEO Tim Kuniskis.

In the midst of launching the Charger and Challenger Hellcat muscle cars, both of which produce over 700 hp, the Dart doesn’t fit into the Dodge brand’s performance DNA, Kuniskis tells WardsAuto.

Parent company Fiat Chrysler in May announced Dodge would become strictly a performance division, stripping the brand of the Caravan minivan and giving it back the Viper supercar, which briefly was a part of the now-defunct SRT division.

Kuniskis says the Challenger and Charger are perfect examples of what the brand will be going forward.

“Charger and Challenger being performance cars is an indication of our strategy,” he says. “The definition of performance, or what we want it to be, is to be different than everything in its segment.”

The Dart, he says, is unlike most competitors in the segment, noting it’s bigger, it’s sportier and looks different. But when it comes to performance, the Dart falls short. The car is offered with a 2.0L inline 4-cyl. producing 160 hp and 148 lb.-ft. (200 Nm) of torque, a 1.4L turbocharged I-4 making 160 hp and 184 lb.-ft. (249 Nm) or a 2.4L I-4 making 184 hp and 174 lb.-ft. (245 Nm) of torque.

“Is (Dart) perfect on the formula? No, absolutely not,” Kuniskis says. “The Charger and Challenger are perfect, the Durango (SUV) is pretty darn close and Dart, we still have to do a little bit of work with Dart to make it fit the formula.”

The executive is mum on what, if any, performance updates are in the works for Dart, but the car is scheduled to be refreshed in 2017, according to WardsAuto.

“We love it, but to be really perfectly aligned with Dodge it probably needs a little bit more performance,” he says. “The car itself is great. It rides great, the interior is great and so is the handling. But it needs more performance.”

Dart sales have lagged this year, off 7.7% vs. year-ago through September to 60,763, according to WardsAuto data.

While Dart sales have slowed, the Durango SUV has been selling well, with deliveries through September up 7.5% to 60,727. While the Durango doesn’t fit perfectly into Dodge’s performance strategy, it is more closely aligned to the brand than the Dart, Kuniskis says.

“If you look at Durango, people call it the Charger of its segment, because everything else is front-wheel drive, car-based platforms that emphasize more the flexibility of the packaging rather than the utility of the packaging,” he says. “It’s the last SUV really built to be a SUV.”

Both the Charger and Challenger are new for ’15, and should provide Dodge with a showroom boost. Through September, total Dodge sales are off 3.8% vs. year-ago to 443,967. Challenger and Charger deliveries fell 9.8% and 1.6%, respectively, in the same timeframe, according to WardsAuto data.

“Our retail sales are up year-over-year, even though we’re coming off a record-setting year,” Kuniskis says. “That’s pretty impressive considering we canceled the (Dodge) Avenger. Overall sales are down, because fleet is down, but that’s a conscious choice on our part.”

When the Dodge Grand Caravan is discontinued in 2016, Kuniskis says he expects overall Dodge sales to further erode, but says new products are in the works that will pump up the brand’s volume.

Until then, the new Challenger and Charger are drawing in new customers, which bodes well for the brand.

Kuniskis says the Charger in particular attracts a demographic highly coveted within the automotive industry.

“The average (Charger buyer) is 45 years old and 60% male,” he says. “The industry average buyer is 53, so we’re very young, and the segment is 60 years old on average.”

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