General Motors Channels Its Inner Gollum: Hangs...
Production Dodge Demon to get Chinese FWD platform

Production Dodge Demon to get Chinese FWD platform

Ralph Hanson January 13th, 2008 Ralph Hanson By Ralph Hanson Author January 13th, 2008
  • Articles Contributed: 1801
  • Comments Posted: 0
  • Leaderboard Rank: N/A

December 31st, 1969 It’s hard to overestimate the thirst of the American auto market for sexy, sporty, small roadsters – while sales of the Pontiac Solstice may be slowing down, the Saturn Sky is taking off, and the Mazda Miata MX-5 is holding more or less steady as it has for nearly two decades. Not surprisingly, Chrysler is keen to get its own piece of the pie and has already shown us what’s possible with last year’s Dodge Demon concept. The only problem is that, financially, things are looking a little worse for wear. There is hope on the horizon but it will come at a cost. According to AutoWeek, Chrysler could call on its Chinese partner Chery to supply a low-cost FWD platform for the car. Chrysler would essentially engineer its own design on top of the Chery platform. "A small sports car is still on our wish list and in the product plan," Chrysler's Tom LaSorda told reporters today at the Detroit Auto Show. "The Demon is a B-segment size car and it would be on the new B-segment platform from China."Cost isn’t the only reason for using the WD platform. Emissions regulations is another issue, LaSorda explained.
Production Dodge Demon to get Chinese FWD platform

Production Dodge Demon to get Chinese FWD platform

Enlarge Photo

It’s hard to overestimate the thirst of the American auto market for sexy, sporty, small roadsters – while sales of the Pontiac Solstice may be slowing down, the Saturn Sky is taking off, and the Mazda Miata MX-5 is holding more or less steady as it has for nearly two decades. Not surprisingly, Chrysler is keen to get its own piece of the pie and has already shown us what’s possible with last year’s Dodge Demon concept. The only problem is that, financially, things are looking a little worse for wear.

There is hope on the horizon but it will come at a cost. According to AutoWeek, Chrysler could call on its Chinese partner Chery to supply a low-cost FWD platform for the car. Chrysler would essentially engineer its own design on top of the Chery platform.

"A small sports car is still on our wish list and in the product plan," Chrysler's Tom LaSorda told reporters today at the Detroit Auto Show. "The Demon is a B-segment size car and it would be on the new B-segment platform from China."Cost isn’t the only reason for using the WD platform. Emissions regulations is another issue, LaSorda explained.

Tags: Roadsters

Posted in: Dodge, News


Comments (8 total)

Meet the top commenters on the Leaderboard

  1. By Adam #1, Posted: 1/13/2008

    They promised it would be RWD. If they flake on that they may as well just scrap it.

  2. By Gus #2, Posted: 1/14/2008

    Agreed.

  3. By MARK #3, Posted: 1/14/2008

    And if it has a cheap made in china chassis then its even worse.

  4. By chris #4, Posted: 1/14/2008

    Yeah I agree. I dont know anyone who would opt for this bmw z4 americanized lookalike even if it is cheaper than the competition. its FWD. FTW?

    as far as the comment about the chinese chassis; build quility and material quality is the reason why the chinese auto industry is a farse. don't under estimate their engineering though. the term "platform" is relatively loose. but in the end, a platform share only means a reduction in engineering costs.

  5. By Jezza #5, Posted: 1/14/2008

    Chris: You said FTW = for the win

    I think you may have mean WTF = what the f**k

    Chrysler KNOWS it\'s in a tough spot. Why ruin this car\'s chances by making it FWD?

  6. By Jim #6, Posted: 1/14/2008

    Did anyone doubt that Chrysler would find a way to botch the Demon up? These are the same yahoos who took a decent Mercedes platform (the SLK) and laid a big ole stinking turd that was the Crossfire.

    Too early to know if a Chinese platform would be junk, but given Chrysler's record you can be suspicious that the company will execute the Demon poorly. It'll be attractive, but cheap appearing and the driving dynamics will be economy car. Too bad.

  7. By Renton #7, Posted: 1/14/2008

    FWD? They can't be that stupid...... Wait...yes they can. They pay the marketing dept millions to say yes they can sell it.

  8. By sady #8, Posted: 3/14/2008

    oh,yeah what a cart

Post a Comment

Post anonymously
Sign In |
will stay private
your 'posted by' name will link to the URL

More from MotorAuthority

More from High Gear Media