The 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. - The Dodge Hornet is not the “China car” which is to be a volume seller. However, it, too, will be assembled in China. Originally, it seemed that the Hornet would be sharing the basic chassis of the new Mercedes A-Class, with joint engineering by Chrysler and Mercedes, but Automotive News claims that the Hornet will be engineered in China by Chery, with production to begin by 2010. We believe that production will actually start earlier, around 2009, and that the Hornet will be jointly engineered. - We now have confirmation that the Hornet - based on the dimensions, we cannot tell whether it is a shortened version of the Chrysler/Mercedes C412, or an existing Chery platform - is to be sold as a niche car in the United States with a rather low projected volume (below even the original PT estimates). - Daimler has announced that the new small Dodge will not be based on a Volkswagen, though the German firm was reputedly the first to be contacted for a proposal. Most likely is a Chinese or Korean automaker, though other Europeans have not been ruled out (Citroën, Renault, and Fiat all make good cars in this class, and have been known to license their designs). The language of a report in Automotive News on September 18 implies that Chrysler intends for the vehicle to be produced outside the United States by the other automaker; this counters (but makes more sense than) past reports that Chrysler was seeking to buy a platform (set of dimensions) and possibly some technology but would engineer the car in-house, which would delay introduction to the U.S. by two or three years. Modifying and importing an existing small car not yet available in the U.S. would take much less time and reduce the loss of buyers seeking better gas mileage. - 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
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