this should have been built instead of the nitro

It looks kinda cool, and I’m using that term loosely. The only reason I say so is because of the hood scoop, but it reminds me of a Ford Festiva or Aspire. Now if they offered a turbo in it…..

Hadn’t seen this before. I like it. Chryslers somewhat blocky design language (or lack thereof) works well on this. So why have they been sitting on their hands up until now?

much nicer design than the fit and yaris

Hahahahahaahahaaaa!!!!!

Had this vehicle been on the dealer lots when oil started it ascend, Chrysler would have had a chance to make inroads, but alas, Cyberus, and Nardelli are just too stupid to get the ball rolling.

If brought out on the market early and executed well, this car would toast the Scions and Kia Souls and Yaris’s of the world, especially in the current high gas price environment. Chrysler is going to need something to take on the Fiesta and this is it. Both this and the Fiesta leave the Aveo in the toilet (although the Chevy Groove and Beat rock).

The Big 3 have the ideas and products to take on the Japanese companies at home and win, but they don’t have the balls.

Cancel the Challenger and drop the 5.7L Hemi into this chassis.
JUST KIDDING!

The only explanation why it will not go that Cerberus is short on cash: this project will cost cool billion and for much less they can re-badge Versa/Megane and still have something in showroom in a short development cycle. They were writing that to make this profitable it has to be built in China. In my humble opinion it is better still born then Chinese bastard.

I disagree, xyunya. This comes down to the need for Chrysler to re-establish their identity. No matter what they do to the Versa it still won’t truly look like a Chrysler product. Stopgap measure: yes. Long term solution: no.

Niiice!

It looks like something a Scion crapped out.

What about plans for a next generation PT Cruiser?

No future replacement for the PT, it was rumored that it would have been a rebadged Dodge Journey. The Hornet, they showed this…2 yrs ago(?) at Geneva i think. but thats around the same time Chrysler was sold. It could be either a Chery or Nissan platform? im agree xyunya, Versa/Megane.

Chrysler designs get old 2 weeks after they come out. They need to stop designing hulky square crap with the cross grill and design something innovative for a change.

They should have rolled this out when they killed the NEON or when the MINI COOPER started making in roads or when the SCION xB became less of a box…

Whatever. Just make it happen.

Going by this article, they must have 3 companies involved with this car. At any rate, the Cooper platform wouldn’t be a bad one to build on. Although, as already stated, change the design. Chrysler wants a “global” car they should probably put more time in the design. Didn’t they talk about the caliber being the global car? They don’t need another caliber.

Looks a lot like the Renault Clio. Cool car. Of course, once we get it, Chrysler will **** it up and it will look like a small Avenger and it will sit and rot on the lots next to the Durango.

This is awesome. Lets just hope it STAYS this way. Maybe Cerberus can pull this off & make it a car worth a damn afterall…. MAYBE.

Stop studying it already and build the damn thing. You NEED something in this car segment as fast as possible.

johnnycanuck, for all we know Chrysler can put Versa inside depicted body and it will work. Chrysler may or may not have that much time before clock runs out. I agree that Chrysler need identity and this one looks good, but if they don’t have money and time, there is no medicine for that. They need to run their operation: produce cars for dealers to sell, as long as they have dealers. And they have to improve those cars drastically for their own and dealers sake. Their plate is full and cash is low, based on what I read.

I think the Nissan Versa’s B platform would be a perfect fit for this type of vehicle. The Nissan Versa is a tall compact car that utilizes its height advantage to offer a lot of interior room within a small exterior. The Hornet Concept appears to be the same type of tall car. How hard could it be to merge the platform with a distinctive Dodge Hornet styled exterior/interior design? If Chrysler LLC could successfully pull this off, it appears as if they would finally have a competitive sub-Caliber product in their product arsenal.

I also think Chrysler LLC needs to seriously consider developing a compact sedan/coupe product based on the Caliber platform. The Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla are ascending as sales champs in the changing U.S. auto market and Dodge is left on the sidelines without a direct competitor. As good or bad as the Caliber may be, a tall hatchback offering is not enough to cover this increasingly important market segment. The Caliber needs some diverse compact segment configurations to complement it in Dodge’s product portfolio.

whats the Nissan Cube built on? coz they look like a good match in dimension and appearance. Is the Cube on a Versa paltform?

mazdaman, that would be true, but the plan is stil to stick the Hornet on a Chinese platform.

The Hornet already looks kinda Japanese, might as well be built by the Japanese. Atleast this thing will be Chryslers highest quality car (built by Nissan)

I guess I was right on the money last week. If I could translate such clairvoyance into cash.

Cool. Just dont put a CVT in it.

Whatever Versa has will go under the hood. That’s where the savings are. Interesting re carnation for the original Renault Megane.

The Versa has a 1.8L 4 cyl. right? This one has the 1.6L supercharged engine in it which is totally fine with me. Too bad it WONT be a rebadged Coop. That would ALSO be completely fine with me. I love Dodge. They’ve just lost everything they had going for it. I hope this helps them move back up where they were/should be.

The supercharged 1.6L was sold to Mini by Chrysler. It was build in Brazil and far inferior to the current 1.6L PSA engine in Mini. 1.8L from Versa is definitely cheaper then supercharged 1.6L and if car sells, Nissan’s 2.0L can be dropped under the hood (I believe engine mounting and dimensions are the same). Even more kick in the ass would be Chrysler “world” 1.8 - 2.0L engines, but I doubt that they will be used in Nissan sourced car.

Looks like it could be marketed as a Scion fighter.

A lead-free Hornet?

Two Things:
1)They need to run their operation: produce cars for dealers to sell, as long as they have dealers. And they have to improve those cars drastically for their own and dealers sake. Their plate is full and cash is low, based on what I read.

Comment by xyunya, posted on June11
————————————-
“as long as they have dealers”..Is Correct!
In SW Ohio, in one town, a Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealership(there for 82 years) closed this year.
The guy who was 2nd in charge( his brother owned the dealership, he worked for him) now works at the Chevy dealership as a salesman(he is in his early 60’s).
Closed…no one buying.
The dealership was alright, but the product…not so much.

————————–

2) Versa and CVT: I test drove the Versa, and liked it, with CVT. I heard on tv 0-60 between 9 to 9.5 seconds. Considering the regular Corolla does this in maybe 10.5-11 seconds, this is “fast”.
It was smooth, quiet, and “fast”(fast enough to not be a terrifying experience).

NOW we’re talking. WIth Nissan building it, we may actually get a decent car and if Nissan has any say about the design, it could look like the picture.

Seems I’m right again in claiming ‘NoNameDufus’ is an idiot … proven WRONG again, dolt? No surprise here.

I knew the 1.6L in the Mini was made by chrysler. I read in car&driver when the Mini was new that it was a version of the Engine in the Neon & previous PT Cruiser. But those two have 2.0L engines. I also agree that engine is inferior compared to the new turbo in the Mini. But I’d still be happy with a super’ed 1.6L.

final agreemant is good news…but, damn this would come out in, 3yrs at the fastest and 4yrs tops ? Caliber/Patriot/Compass are the smallest cars in Chrysler. Its been about a year since Cerberus…so a revised Caliber could be out in another 2 years? Im just guesstimating a time table, but i hope its not too late.

How long would it take for them (to set up )to drop the Hornet body onto the Versa platform?
If they left everything (except the body) alone(from Versa)?
They should be able to get something out before/by 2010.
I do agree with one guy… these things should be here now(Fiesta from Ford, new 40 MPG car Chevy spoke about recently, that will supposedly be out next year at this time, and this Hornet)…not 1-2, or more years from now.

THANK GOD!

Versa based Hornet? That is actually a good idea. I am glad that they are ditching the Chinese platform. JoshyLofty, I bet they use a turbo engine for emissions reasons.

The Chinese have a ways to go before anyone will trust them. But for now I am not oppsed to a Versa-based Hornet.

BTW, shoving a HEMI in such a car would not be impossible, if you don’t mind losing your back seat, cargo space and moving the gas tank up front. Compacts with monster engines are nothing new. Some gear heads did it to a FORD Fiesta in the early 1990s. VW crammed a V12 in the back of a GOLF early this year or late last year. FORD Europe, i think crammed a 5.0L V8 in the front of a Focus, saving your back seat, and making the car RWD to boot.

Nah, that would be a crazy SRT-8 if Ever it could happen.

An SRT-4 Hornet would be a fun lil car if done right.

LJ- yeah youre right it should be about 2 yrs. the challenger showed in 06 in concept. now if they can price it right, i hope they dont price this against the mini cooper–too pricey.

very ugly

Yeah they’d F up if they priced it with the mini. BUT. i would support the competition with mini if it could COMPETE with a mini. meaning, great interior, great ride, basically a quality car.

As for the caliber. POS. they should have just redone the neon and made it even more badass. The Caliber is odd to look @ and had no performance. woo. IMO, the neon was 10 times better of a car to DRIVE & looked better. even tho it does look like a frog. But it was CUTE. That worked for it, it works for the mini.