Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door. - Other Cars Forum

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Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 7:02 AM
Do you remember the Dodge Caliber pics?

Dodge has no plan for a sedan version of the Neon replacement.

The Dodge Caliber concept debuting this week at the Geneva auto show reveals the styling theme for the five-door vehicle that will replace the Neon next year. The car will be assembled in Belvidere, Ill., for sale in North America and Europe.

The current-generation Neon is a four-door sedan only. The previous generation also offered a two-door model.
While the Neon replacement will have five doors, Dodge will resist calling the vehicle a hatchback or station wagon. Marketing and advertising messages will focus on styling, performance, features and interior flexibility.

Chrysler group CEO Dieter Zetsche said the automaker will offer a five-door model in place of a four-door for two reasons.
"One is that, at least financially, neither the first- nor the second-generation Neon was extremely successful, so there was no need to repeat this experience," Zetsche said.
Second, he said, this is a way "to set ourselves apart and to clearly lead the way in styling" and offer "a tremendous amount of utility -- so you will have all this functionality."

Zetsche was interviewed here on Feb. 20 before the start of the Daytona 500 race.
Chrysler executives said Caliber is the likely name for the new vehicle.

The strategy of avoiding labeling the vehicle as a hatchback or wagon is a response to the disappointing launch of the Chrysler Pacifica in 2003. The automaker tried to explain in marketing and advertising that the Pacifica was a blend of sedan, minivan and SUV. The result was confusing to potential buyers, and that contributed to the vehicle's disappointing sales, said Joe Eberhardt, Chrysler group executive vice president of global sales and marketing.

With the Pacifica, he said, Chrysler spent too much time explaining "what segment it fits in and what you call it. I don't think we told people enough what the product actually can do and what it is all about."

Eberhardt said that for the Neon replacement the automaker will "communicate product benefits and why-buys" and not spend time explaining what it is.

The Neon replacement is being developed from the next-generation Mitsubishi front-drive Lancer platform. Industry sources say at least two other vehicles are expected to be produced off that platform and assembled in Belvidere.





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Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 7:31 AM
I figured those Germans would @!#$ up Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep sooner or later but I didn't expect them to @!#$ up Dodge this fast. Bad enough the trucks are getting bigger and uglier now they got to make the rest of the Dodge line look like an ugly ass truck/suv/van/wagon thingamajig.







Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 7:36 AM
that is just nasty looking.


19.2@104 2.0 60ft

does that work out? how many people actually read the sig....
Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 7:44 AM
How does someone design THAT as the neon replacement?


<A HREF="http://members.rogers.com/bruce.chung/pics.html"><IMG SRC="http://members.rogers.com/bruce.chung/sig.jpg" border=0></a><A HREF = "http://www.precizion.org/forums/"><IMG SRC="http://www.j-body.org/registry/kenz24/precizionsmall.gif" border=0></A>
Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 9:03 AM
brew-san wrote:How does someone design THAT as the neon replacement?


thats what i was thinking
looks more like a small suv, like a competitor to the escape or something



Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 10:33 AM
is it just me or does anyone else see a chevy malibu maxx? thats the first thing I thought of when I looked at those pics... different but I don't think its that bad looking... better than the past few years of cars I've seen from dodge...



Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 11:00 AM
so that leaves the stratus as the only actual "car" in dodge's line-up???
who the frick has only 1 car in a line-up?
oh yeah i forgot about the inro of the '06 charger, but still those are 2 large cars. shouldn't they have a small car.




www.drluc.ca
Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 11:19 AM
Mr.Goodwrench-G.T. wrote:

Chrysler group CEO Dieter Zetsche said the automaker will offer a five-door model in place of a four-door for two reasons.
"One is that, at least financially, neither the first- nor the second-generation Neon was extremely successful, so there was no need to repeat this experience," Zetsche said.
Second, he said, this is a way "to set ourselves apart and to clearly lead the way in styling" and offer "a tremendous amount of utility -- so you will have all this functionality."

Zetsche was interviewed here on Feb. 20 before the start of the Daytona 500 race.
Chrysler executives said Caliber is the likely name for the new vehicle.


I just wanted to comment on the reasoning for not repeating the Neon...
I guess if the car isn't EXTREMELY SUCCESSFUL, then copy the Vibe/Matrix/Mazda 3/Kia Cinco metaphor and see if that works? (Was denks't du hier Dieter? in English= what are you thinking, Dieter?) I think it looks like a neat little car, but really, how many tiny station wagons are we going to purchase?

Mr.Goodwrench-G.T. wrote:The strategy of avoiding labeling the vehicle as a hatchback or wagon is a response to the disappointing launch of the Chrysler Pacifica in 2003. The automaker tried to explain in marketing and advertising that the Pacifica was a blend of sedan, minivan and SUV. The result was confusing to potential buyers, and that contributed to the vehicle's disappointing sales, said Joe Eberhardt, Chrysler group executive vice president of global sales and marketing.

With the Pacifica, he said, Chrysler spent too much time explaining "what segment it fits in and what you call it. I don't think we told people enough what the product actually can do and what it is all about."

Eberhardt said that for the Neon replacement the automaker will "communicate product benefits and why-buys" and not spend time explaining what it is.


I've never understood what the heck the Pacifica is, and I read all of the PR gobbledygook they put out about it. It's like an 11/10ths minivan, but with 8/10ths the power... Not a good mix.

Like another person on this thread said, I didn't imagine that Daimler would wreck Chrysler so fast...




George (geozinger)
'95 Sunfire GT-my second Pontiac from Hell!
'97 Cavy Beater-still running like a champ!
'04 Sunfire - my kid's car, but I get the bills...
'09 Pontiac G6 - Sport Package 1


Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 2:04 PM
So wait, we have the magnum, charger, and neon replacement. All three look like extremely similar, have 4 doors (5 whatevea), and look like retarted station wagons w/ a truck grill?

Holy christ i've never seen a company look so good and then so bad in a few year timespan.

Good a few years ago:
High powered SRT versions
300c, great car great price
chrysler supercar concept
possibly even the magnum as it was original at the time

Now,
no more srt-4 as we know it,
a bastardized 4 door charger that looks like a magnum,
this caliber hunk of crap,
No more 2 doors being sold except viper,
Every "car" has a truck grill.
Chrysler has fallen too hard for this hatchback, 4 door, station wagon looking fad.
Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 6:09 PM
guess it wasn't faggy enough for Chrysler to have the P.T. Loser, they decided Dodge needed a faggy wagon too.

just makes the Cobalt just that much more appealing i guess.





"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net

Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 9:33 PM
dave lee I agree

SRT-4 ugly but fast (most people like the speed)
Magnum/300C cool
PT Curser - different and doesn't have a truck grill (I can see why people like it)
Ram -- looks like a truck (which is good)


New Neon - not a truck, so why does it try to have a truck grill, At least the SRT-4 grill is a car grill
New Dakota - tries too hard, but at least it has a V-8
New Charger - I don't mind the grill, but the 4-doors mess up the lines of the car

conclusion: Why Dodge Why?
Can't you for at least one model year give us the illusion you care about making good looking cars.

Re: Official, Next Neon will be a 5-door.
Tuesday, March 01, 2005 9:55 PM
kinda weird, i never thought i'd see the day when the best looking vehicle DCX makes is their mini-van. sad but true



"Formerly known as Jammit - JBO member since 1998" JBOM | CSS.net

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