1) The Dart was never remembered fondly by anyone (if you remember them fondly you're high - they were pieces of shit) and the people who do remember them fondly are not the target demographic that Dodge claims, in this very article, to be courting. 2) Cars are way the fuck more expensive now than they used to be which is one reason kids aren't buying them. A discussion that you apparently don't even feel like having. 3) Chrysler in particular has mismanaged itself into government bailouts and foreign investments time and time again and bringing back a car generally unloved by anyone who wasn't over 40 in 1973 is more of the same. Now - if you want to take this "a point at a time" those are the points under discussion. Take it from someone who runs to excessive loquaciousness: if you don't stay en pointe people are just going to gloss. You clearly have some deeply-held, deeply researched points to make that, correct or not, don't address any of the 3 points above. Kind of like your "Civic" and "Corolla" examples. Both have been in production continuously for decades - 39 years for the Civic and 46 for the Corolla. They have brand awareness. When I say "Civic" or "Corolla" there isn't a 20-something in the car market who doesn't know exactly what that is. Chances are their parents drove one. It's entirely possible their grandparents had one. The Dart? JFK to Gerald Ford, man. That sucker has been dead since before the Sugar Hill Gang invented Rap music.
Dart among hottest new cars at the Detroit auto show, Vanity Fair, Jan. 23
o Vanity Fair picked the hottest and the not-hottest cars at the recent auto show in Detroit, and Dodge Dart ranked among the hottest. This is the best-looking “small” Chrysler vehicle since the original Dart died 40 years ago, Vanity Fair said. Better yet, it’s built on the grippy underpinnings of the Alfa-Romeo Giulietta, which were inherited from the brand’s new Italian overlord, Fiat, the magazine said. Our version is widened and softened, though, for wider and softer Americans; also: it has a cool digital dashboard, the article said. What's hot at Detroit auto show, Detroit Free Press, Jan. 19
o From the moment the Selected by God choir - famed for Chrysler's "Imported from Detroit" commercial - sang "Lean on Me" at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, the 2012 North American International Auto Show has hit one high note after another, the Detroit Free Press said. One hit is the 2013 Dodge Dart, the Free Press said. The Dart compact sedan hints at great things to come from Chrysler's alliance with Fiat, the paper said. Its broad cross-hair grille and sporty stance make it immediately recognizable as a Dodge, but engineers in Auburn Hills stretched and widened the platform of the sporty Alfa Romeo Giulietta to create a car that promises up to 40 mpg on the highway and more rear legroom than a Hyundai Sonata midsize sedan, the article said. A year from now, we'll see how Chrysler and Fiat engineering made new models for the Jeep and Chrysler brands - this is a good start, the article said. And the target market I alluded to earlier, here's the news on that - and it is wider than Gen Xer's (in fact some Gen Xer's may be too old - ha!) http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/detroit-auto-show-201... 2.) Here's some reasons they are so expensive: What cost $10000 in 1975 would cost $40062.77 in 2010.
Also, if you were to buy exactly the same products in 2010 and 1975,
they would cost you $10000 and $2324.49 respectively. However, don't blame the auto companies per se, there are lots of reasons we pay more. The amount of money that is "printed" and circulated with the country in debt and growing deeper by the day has a devaluing effect on the monetary supply. What about the cost of regulation? What about income versus demand? To say it is just auto companies (foreign or domestic) that have hiked the price (which I hope you are not saying) is a gross exaggeration of the real facts. Here's a link from NADA that estimates just the latest ones: http://www.nadafrontpage.com/NADA_Testifies_at_EPA_NHTSA_Fue... 3.) No argument on past Chrysler management exempting, of course, Lee Iacocca, Bob Lutz, and Sergio Marchionne. Your aspersion that Chrysler "chased off the Daimler folks is false. Remember, the Daimler folks were in charge at that time! In fact, they spent 7B in liquid assets (cash in the bank), stripped out content in the American arm of the company (i.e. Chrysler) such as sound deadening, interiors (sea of plastic), sub-par suspensions, and other items. The current management has put that back in and the sales record for Chrysler underscores that (in the top three automakers along with Kia and Hyundai), and the best of the domestics! Oh, the Dodge Durango won Consumer Reports most reliable large SUV (and it is pretty fuel efficient for its size - let's see you get a family of five with kids seats, playpens, luggage and the like in a Toyota Prius - huh - you'd need three! Oh, the Fiat 500 (average fuel economy 38 MPG) gets better fuel economy than Honda Civic and Toyota Corolla (not that they are bad cars - they are not - they are good ones). Don't be so jaded on past records and look at current efficiencies. Want to pay $3,500.00 for new batteries at 40K miles? Talk about unaffordable! Ford and GM have good, efficient vehicles at the lower end of the cost spectrum as well. The Dodge Dart will get 40 MPG on the highway as well! The imports make good vehicles, but they don't own the market any longer (shall I say Toyota Highlander or Nissan Pathfinder with their less than renowned fuel mileage ratings). So, there is a more circumspect approach to the automotive and financial markets and we have to see why - let's have fun driving good cars and trucks.
2) Original figures were adjusted for inflation. Give me a break. If you wanted to make a real argument, you'd start somewhere like this: http://www.automobilemag.com/green/reviews/0907_1985_honda_c... ...but you're not. 3) "Chrysler in particular has mismanaged itself into government bailouts and foreign investments time and time again and bringing back a car generally unloved by anyone who wasn't over 40 in 1973 is more of the same." http://money.cnn.com/galleries/2011/autos/1110/gallery.consu... (That's where your "most reliable large SUV" came from) Lexus CT 200h
Honda CR-Z
Infiniti QX56
Scion xD
Toyota Highlander (4-cyl.)
Lexus ES
Nissan Titan
Honda Fit
Toyota Prius
Toyota RAV4 (4-cyl.) Not a domestic in the herd. Here's Consumer Reports' recommended "Best Large SUV" category: Other good choices:
Toyota Land Cruiser
Toyota 4Runner (V6)
Honda Pilot
Toyota Highlander Hybrid
Lexus RX
Lexus RX Hybrid
Acura MDX
Infiniti FX35
Toyota Sequoia
Mazda CX-9
Lexus GX
Subaru B9 Tribeca, Tribeca ...so... while it may have won for "most reliable" they still don't think you should buy one. I'm done here. My whole point is that bringing back the Dodge Dart to try and woo youngsters is a bass-ackward and stupid approach. Your counter-argument seems to be that the Dodge Durango doesn't break as often as a Lincoln Navigator. I'm not quite sure where we go from there.