Dodge executives brought the all-new and much-anticipated 2013 Dart to Miami recently and previewed it for the South Florida automotive media during a luncheon in the trendy Wynwood Art district of Miami.
Dodge is expecting great sales performance from the compact Dart. It’s the first product off the production line in the partnership between Chrysler and Fiat, and the Dart label recalls a legendary Dodge nameplate from decades past.
A four-member team of top-level Dodge executives was dispatched to Miami to unveil the beautiful new Dart for members of the Southern Automotive Media Association (SAMA), including Joe Dehner, chief of Dodge and Ram exterior design. Dehner told the group that the new Dart is built on a modified Alpha Romeo Giulietta platform.
“The Dodge Dart was a dream to design,” Dehner said. “The Alfa Romeobased architecture allowed us to design an exterior with great proportions that say ‘fun-to-drive’ when you look at it. Add in the Charger-inspired ‘racetrack’ tail lamps, a new, sleek crosshair grille and piano black accents, and it all adds up to a performance- inspired design with just the right amount of attitude.”
The new Dart will be offered in 12 exterior colors and 14 interior colors, and available in five trim levels — SE, SXT, Rallye, Limited and R/T. There are three state-of-the art, fuel-efficient engine options — a new 160 hp Tigershark 2.0- liter engine, a 160 hp 1.4-liter turbo engine, and a new 184 hp 2.4-liter fourcylinder engine. The engines will be mated to one of three transmission choices — a six-speed manual, six-speed automatic or six-speed dual dry clutch (DDCT) gearbox.
The new Dart will be built at Chrysler’s assembly plant in Belvidere, IL and begin to hit U.S. showrooms in early June with a base price of $15,995.
