Rear-wheel drive resurgence from Alfa Romeo to spawn D-segment car for Dodge
Company-specific website Allpar is reporting a rear-wheel drive Alfa Romeo is currently in development and the newly christened FCA needs to share the costs of the new model with another brand, namely Dodge.
After the introduction of the 2015 Chrysler 200, the Dodge Avenger was deleted from Chrysler’s range of vehicle offerings. However, if this report is to be believed, a rear-wheel drive Avenger, or similarly sized model, could make its way to dealer lots in the future with rear-wheel drive.
From Allpar:
Mr. Marchionne has said more than once that without a Dodge to spread engineering costs across a large volume of cars, there could be no Alfa Romeo in the category. The Alfa is likely to be set up as a “world car;” we expect it to have a six-cylinder engine at most, while the Dodge would probably have a longer under-hood area to allow for a Hemi V8 engine. The platform (core dimensions) is likely to be a joint engineering project between Chrysler and Alfa Romeo, with different suspensions and engines to match each brand’s personality, audience, and price range.
The chances of this coming to fruition seem logical when not taking into consideration fuel economy restrictions for vehicles in the United States. With so many automakers trying to find ways to make their vehicles more efficient, and Chrysler’s current lack of highly-efficient electric offerings, there needs to be a massive shift in the Chrysler portfolio in order to make this happen.
