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I don't know about where everyone else here is at, but I don't see a lot of young drivers buying new cars anymore. Wages for jobs young people typically have have stagnated over the last ten years. I was making $8 an hour when I worked at Arby's back in 2000 or so, and I don't think they're even paying that much now. Back then, you could buy a Neon for maybe $12K and now a Dart is $17K or more. Back then, you could get a Swift or a Lanos for about ten grand. You can't do that anymore. Now, these kids are getting two to five year old cars in that ten grand range. The compact cars are very overpriced now. The Cruze has hardly any discount, and in my local car ads you can find a '12 Cruze, a '12 Malibu, or a '12 Silverado regular cab within striking distance of each other on price, with the Sonic dangerously close behind.
The automakers are trying to market to the youth market, sure, but the youth can't afford the cars. I think the manufacturers, in trying to market to the youth, are also marketing to old people who try to act a bit young, possibly. Maybe I'm overanalyzing it, though. A Scion xB is cheap space, the Honda Element is utilitarian with a great reliability record, and both are cheap to own, and perhaps that's why the old crowd likes them.
As for the Cruze drawing an old crowd, look at the color palette. Most of them I see are beige. I see a lot of Focuses (Foci?) in an odd orange color. I imagine Dodge will sell a lot of red Darts. I wouldn't be surprised if they offered the Dart in unusual colors like they did with the Caliber, hopefully even yellow or Mango Tango. Heck, I'd think about buying one if they did. That Mango Tango is a cool color, and you can even get it on a Caravan. GM is also not offering the Cruze hatchback here, either.
Cruze reliability? I think it was mostly engineered by the successor to Daewoo. Daewoo didn't last long in America, probably for good reason. The Cruze is also assembled in a factory long known for awful workmanship.
I don't know about where everyone else here is at, but I don't see a lot of young drivers buying new cars anymore. Wages for jobs young people typically have have stagnated over the last ten years. I was making $8 an hour when I worked at Arby's back in 2000 or so, and I don't think they're even paying that much now. Back then, you could buy a Neon for maybe $12K and now a Dart is $17K or more. Back then, you could get a Swift or a Lanos for about ten grand. You can't do that anymore. Now, these kids are getting two to five year old cars in that ten grand range. The compact cars are very overpriced now. The Cruze has hardly any discount, and in my local car ads you can find a '12 Cruze, a '12 Malibu, or a '12 Silverado regular cab within striking distance of each other on price, with the Sonic dangerously close behind.
The automakers are trying to market to the youth market, sure, but the youth can't afford the cars. I think the manufacturers, in trying to market to the youth, are also marketing to old people who try to act a bit young, possibly. Maybe I'm overanalyzing it, though. A Scion xB is cheap space, the Honda Element is utilitarian with a great reliability record, and both are cheap to own, and perhaps that's why the old crowd likes them.
As for the Cruze drawing an old crowd, look at the color palette. Most of them I see are beige. I see a lot of Focuses (Foci?) in an odd orange color. I imagine Dodge will sell a lot of red Darts. I wouldn't be surprised if they offered the Dart in unusual colors like they did with the Caliber, hopefully even yellow or Mango Tango. Heck, I'd think about buying one if they did. That Mango Tango is a cool color, and you can even get it on a Caravan. GM is also not offering the Cruze hatchback here, either.
Cruze reliability? I think it was mostly engineered by the successor to Daewoo. Daewoo didn't last long in America, probably for good reason. The Cruze is also assembled in a factory long known for awful workmanship.
This post is 100% spot on. No, you're not over-analyzing at all.
I know it sounds shallow to blame a color palette for a car not being cool, but you can get a Charger in yellow now, but not a Taurus or an Impala, unless you order the taxi package. Young people around me love the Charger, so much so, in fact, that the car rental guy told me at Enterprise last time I was there that they won't even rent Chargers to under-25s because there have been so many damaged.
I was playing on Pontiac's website a few years ago looking at Vibes, probably 2006, but I don't remember for sure, and the color palette was even more drab than the Cruze's. White, silver, navy, burgundy, and a couple others.
The Cruze has a new color out, Autumn Metallic, and it is very handsome. Still kind of an old-looking color, though. The car needs Inferno Orange, which is commonly seen on the Sonic. It might not look quite right on the Cruze, but it's more interesting than, say, silver or Black Granite Metallic.
Back on topic: I think the Dart will do reasonably well. Chrysler buyers seem more willing to put up with substandard products than GM and Ford fans. The Caliber was a decent seller, at least around here
(though here in SE MI, Chrysler could still sell K-cars and "real" Darts and get away with it) despite being an agricultural implement with a full body around it.
As if any of Chrysler's new products are substandard in the first place.
You're joking, right? This just screams CHEAP to me!
Chrysler is still trailing behind GM and Ford when it comes to quality and craftsmanship in their vehicles. I like the new Chrysler 300, but I still have my doubts as to their long-term reliability.
The 5.7 HEMI and their old 5 speed automatic from Mercedes are bullet proof. Who knows on the new 8 speed, but it's built by the same company that Audi, BMW, Bentley, and Rolls use (ZF).
The Chrysler 200 pictured above isn't a bad car for $25k with over 280hp. It's due for replacement next year with a car from Fiat. The 2011-2012 200 was just a temp makeover until the 2013 was designed.
My dad told me stories about the Dodge Dart. He traded in a 56 Chevy sedan that he truly loved for a new 63 Dodge dart, slant 6. He truly hated that car and was glad to be rid of it. The engine sucked, it began to rust within two years, it was a lemon. Then I worked with a guy in the 1980s who had one and heard his stories about how it sucked.
He traded it in for a 67 Chevy which was our car as a youth. I remember how roomy it was and the engine was bullet proof although he did say the V 6 lacked power.
Definitely not an inspired name. Maybe the " Dodge Drek " might have more appeal?
except the tragedy called the Charger. I hate seeing that 4 door sedan grocery getter wearing the Charger emblem.
That would be like building a minivan and calling it a corvette.
Except that a minivan and a Corvette have always served two very different functions whereas today's Charger serves essentially the same function as the original Charger did -- a family hauler that may or may not have had a hopped-up engine in it so Dad could option the car for some some fun when he wasn't hauling the rest of the family around. The only difference is 2 doors instead of 4 -- and that's in keeping with consumer preference from each era given that in the 60s/70s even many family haulers only had 2 doors.
Considering the name "Charger" has been used on anything from a pickup truck to a FWD 4-cylinder compact hatchback, one should be glad the current iteration of the Charger actually does resemble the original in basic layout and function.
You're joking, right? This just screams CHEAP to me!
Chrysler is still trailing behind GM and Ford when it comes to quality and craftsmanship in their vehicles. I like the new Chrysler 300, but I still have my doubts as to their long-term reliability.
Funny. The interior photo you posted comes from a car that Consumer Reports just rated "much better than average" in reliability.
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