Sales of the closely watched Dodge Dart slipped in November amid rising inventory levels and an added third shift at the Illinois plant where the compact is built.
The Dart notched 4,489 deliveries for Chrysler, WardsAuto data shows. The highest sales month for the Dart was in October with 5,455 deliveries.
The Chrysler 200 midsize sedan, the spotlight of the company’s heralded “Imported From Detroit” campaign, surpassed 200,000 deliveries last month since its unveiling last year. Sales of the 200 are up 49.6% so far this year from like-2011.
The Chrysler brand sold 12,130 vehicles overall in November, up 3.0%.
The Dodge Avenger midsize sedan also has been a consistent performer, with 7,132 deliveries in November and a 54.8% rise in 11-month sales year-over-year. Total Dodge-brand sales for the month stood at 20,387, up 25.2%.
The good: The 200 is an average looking car at best, but has a nicely redesigned interior, Great powerful engine for the class, and a very low price when all incentives are considered. What do many mainstream buyers want? A cheap, powerful car that is at least competitive on fuel consumption.
The bad: The dart is a pretty good looking car, but its powertrain choices are decent for its class, but not too impressive when compared to cars that are oh-so-close in size to it. Also, when optioned up to how many people would buy them,they aren't a real bargain.
There should be entire studies done about the success of the mildly freshened 200. The press pretty much despises it (or at least never recommends it), its reputation for quality is lacking, and it's basically just OK looking inside and out. EVEN THE BACK SEAT ISN'T ALL THAT ROOMY(!), base models still make do with a 4-speed auto, and it doesn't have pushbutton start. And yet, here we are with it emerging one of the best-selling passenger cars in North America. While I suppose fleet sales figure in significantly, sales are sales, and no doubt Chrysler is making tens of millions of dollars on this old platform now. This is the kind of thing GM used to be able to pull off with cars like the Grand Am, but not so much anymore. What is the secret? Take the money out of engineering and just slap that cash on the hood?
Pricing is killing the Dart. I really wanted that car to be a success for Chrysler, its a damn fine car. But it runs into mid sized prices when not even fully optioned up.
It just goes to show that there are still a lot of traditional buyers out there that see two similarly sized sedans, one all new with weak 4 cylinder engines and fat price tags and one that is a bit older but much improved with a potent V6 and lots of value for less coin. I know which of the two I would pick with my current salary and the weak economy figured in. I just looked at two such examples. The silver 2013 Avenger with V6, bluetooth, 18" alloys, Uconnect, Satellite radio etc is on sale for only $17995 or I can get a 2013 Dart with the weak sauce 2.0 liter L4, automatic and about the same equipment for 18995. I'm sure the dart feels more modern but the Avenger/200 are just a better value for the money and a pocket rocket to boot.
The Dart's problem is the Avenger, which is small for a midsize, while the Dart is large for a compact. That and the Avenger is an aging, unloved car that sells on incentives not available on the new Dart.
People interested in "more for your money" are going to buy an Avenger over a Dart at this point. So the Dart is going to struggle until the next non-bottom-feeding Avenger is out.
As for the 200, I'm shocked it's doing so well and am nervous that it will only encourage the Chrysler brand to continue with lower-priced models where Dodge should play and not make a proper push upmarket where they belong.
My guess is that the 200 has at least 50% fleet mix. Especially since the 200 convertible, like its Sebring and LeBaron forebears, has always been a fleet queen.
The press hates this POS, therefore why would anyone buy it?
From personal experience, it's a lot of bang for the buck.
For 24 grand sticker or about 19 OTD we had heated cloth seats, 17" Michelin MXV4s, 280 HP V6/6A, and if you check my fuelly it didn't do badly at all. I think it was just loosening up when we traded it at about 5300 miles.
Well, I can add this, the 200 is a mechanical twin to the Avenger, and we have a 2011 Avenger wit the 3.6 and now about 40,000 miles....
The back seat...I know the dimensions aren't that great, but it FEELS like you have more room back there than our old Malibu and the back seat is very comfortable. The car has a lot of power with pretty decent mileage...280+HP with a 6 speed auto and rated at 29mph highway (got close to 32 on a trip between NY and Florida last year.) Zero, let me say it again, ZERO problems of any kind..nothing mechanical, nothing with the paint, nothing at all. Finally, we got it out the door for just under $20,000 with incentives.
Price - price - price. The Avenger/200 go out at bargain basement pricing. I see them advertised all over the place new for peanuts. And they're adequate transportation. Then you throw the Dart in the showroom at mucher higher out the door pricing and this is what you get.
Similar to the current Impala - there are a lot of people looking for a decent priced point a to point b vehicle and don't care about the latest tech. The 200 and Impala fit that bill perfectly.
It's still a little early to call the Dart a flop. But AutoPlaybook may be on to something, that it's not working as an "almost midsize".
I honestly think the pricing on the Dart is pretty reasonable. But I have come to accept that "good" cars cost at least $25K nowadays. I suppose an extra $1000 one way or another sways more buyers who are pinching pennies in this economy.
One other thing about the 200, Chrysler cornered the market for an affordibly priced convertible that seats 4 people. Go visit the 200 forums. People really do like their cars.
It's still a little early to call the Dart a flop. But AutoPlaybook may be on to something, that it's not working as an "almost midsize".
One other thing about the 200, Chrysler cornered the market for an affordibly priced convertible that seats 4 people. Go visit the 200 forums. People really do like their cars.
One other issue I see with Dart is the margin. We have a simmilar issue with Fiesta, there is no mark-up in the sticker price. When selling, there's no way to make any money on one, so why bother. I recomend going to kbb or elsewhere and compare MSRP to dealer invoice and see how little mark up Dart has. This only encourages the sales people to push Dart buyers to other models (200) where they can make some money.
Keep in mind that after some decent initial reviews, most of the full reviews I've read of the Dart have been pretty lukewarm. Base 2.0 is weak, the 1.4T needs to be revved for decent power, handling is OK, but not a standout. Against the Cruze (more low-end torque and surprising real-world fuel economy in the Eco) and the Focus (probably the best handler in its class and a strong 2.0 engine, I'm not surprised the Dart hasn't taken off. It will be interesting to see if things improve when the 2.4 gets tested.
I've never driven the 200, but frankly I'm amazed what they did with the homely, misproportioned Sebring. The interior looks pretty rich and the exterior looks clean and more upscale than the price. For those people who drice easy and just walk on the lot looking for a car, I'd imagine the 200 seems like a screaming deal.
Hope they have patience with the Dart. There's a good car there that needs a suspension retune and some more compelling powertrains to really shine.
I rather like the 200. For the money I think it is a rather stylish car. As far as mainstream sedans go it is probably the only one I could see myself owning. Now that I think of it the 200S is a pretty sweet ride for the money. Though I'm guessing it probably doesn't stack up to the Verano/Regal in terms of overall quality, content, and handling. The trade-off is that the 200 is a lot cheaper and has a slick V6. Makes me think the Chrysler that made the 300M isn't completely dead.
The 200 is what it is. Not a great platform but the new Chrysler made the best of it. It looks decent. It's the lowest price in the class and it can be had with the pentastar V6 which is a nice engine.
The Dart looks great in pictures and on paper. A few months ago I got the chance to sit in a mid level Dart with the multi air 1.4T. The exterior is nice in person but the interior was still lacking. For a compact it had reasonable rear seat leg room but the worst rear head room I've ever seen in a car. It's certainly not close to best in class. It's more of a me too in the C segment. Better than the Corolla (what isn't), close to the Focus but still not up the the Cruze or Elantra in My opinion.
In due time, Chrysler cars, the new 300, the new 200 and the 100, as per Marchionne intentions, should become quasi-premium cars. That said, it's obvious that until we see the new models, Chrysler is trying to get out the best from actual models.
On the other side, Dodge should be a level below Chrysler cars, though efficient and competitive in their class.
To do this, it takes its time, obviously.
So our considerations are concerning the actual moment, that IMO will completely change say in 4 yrs.
Small midsizers and a large compact are all available at roughly the same price. And buyers have not been conditioned to shop compacts at Dodge dealerships for nearly a decade.
Dart sales are slow because the dart sxt lease is zero down 285 a month for 24 months....where I can get a cruise or Malibu 2012 with all the bonus point nonsense for half the cost or at worst 200 a month....
People in this segment care most about the monthly payment with no money down...
The dart isn't subsidizing the lease deal to be competitive in this segment (yet)
Finally saw my first Dart on the road today. It looks a bit narrow from behind. I view it as a compact comparable to the Cruze. It's no midsize, regardless of what Dodge says.
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