Consumer Guide's Impressions of the 2010 Dodge Hornet

Japan wins over China as the country of origin for a new Dodge compact car. With kicky concept-inspired looks, high fuel thrift, and a Versa-tile package, the Nissan-built Hornet could be the big-buzz seller Chrysler desperately needs.

What We Know About the 2010 Dodge Hornet

Tough times often put paid to even the best-laid plans, and so it is with Chrysler's promised new compact car, the Dodge Hornet, in today's dour U.S. economy. Expected to bow as a 2010 model, the Hornet will now be essentially a reskinned version of the popular front-wheel-drive Nissan Versa and built alongside it in Japan. Styling will borrow elements of the ugly-cute 2006 Hornet hatchback concept, but the rest of the package will be mainly Nissan.

Originally, the 2010 Dodge Hornet was to be sourced from China through a tie-up between Chrysler and Chery Automobile Co., one of the fastest-rising vehicle makers in that fast-rising country. The hope was to take advantage of China's much lower production costs for a car that Chrysler couldn't design and build profitably on its own. Trouble was, Chery was short on plant capacity, and promises of a major expansion still left doubts that it could supply as many Hornets as Chrysler might need, let alone build them with acceptable quality. The doubts increased with Chrysler's takeover in August 2007 by equity-investment firm Cerberus Capital Management, and seemed to grow stronger once the wily Jim Press was recruited from Toyota North America to be Chrysler co-president.

Finding another partner seemed to be the only option, as Chrysler needs the 2010 Dodge Hornet in the worst way. Though the current economic storm is also battering Ford, General Motors, and even powerhouse Toyota, Chrysler has suffered the biggest year-to-year sales losses of any major carmaker, off some 25 percent for the first eight months of 2008. Moreover, Ford and GM are able to tap their overseas branches for the smaller, thriftier vehicles that are now in such high demand, whereas Chrysler has no such resource. Worse, its lineup is top-heavy with hard-to-sell gas-guzzlers, while its economy models aren't selling as well as might be expected at a time when gas costs so much.

Enter Nissan, another of Japan's economy-car experts and whose CEO Carlos Ghosn is usually open to doing deals. The first with Chrysler involved supplying Versas for sale in South America under the Chrysler or Dodge label. That led to further talks and the more ambitious idea of a product swap for North America. Nissan would handle the 2010 Dodge Hornet, while Chrysler would return the favor by designing and building a new large pickup truck to replace the slow-selling Nissan Titan. Presto! Each company lends its special expertise to erase a competitive deficit at the other, and both save big bucks to boot. But will either of these products be a winner? That's the billion-dollar question.

The one other question about the 2010 Dodge Hornet is how much it will look like the well-received 2006 concept. After all, the showcar styling was done with no specific platform in mind, but must now be retailored to fit Nissan Versa bones. That suggests the production Hornet will add some 2.6 inches to wheelbase and a whopping 16 inches to overall length versus the concept. Otherwise, the Nissan architecture is a good choice. The hatchback Versa is a close match for the Hornet concept in width and height, and both are boxy 4-doors with short overhangs front and rear. Despite its greater length, we expect the showroom Hornet to be usefully lighter than the porky concept at under 2,700 lb versus 3,100, a benefit of the Versa's weight-watcher engineering.

Count on Chrysler stylists to preserve all the concept visuals they can so the 2010 Dodge Hornet won't be mistaken for a Versa. That almost certainly means an aggressive cross-hair Dodge grille, circular wheel openings that are large enough for optional wheels of maybe up to 18 inches (15s may be standard), prominent fender creaselines, high-rise bodysides, and a ruler-flat roof ending at a near-vertical liftgate. One thing likely won't carry over and that's the concept's center-opening doors with no B-pillars. Chrysler is sharing a platform, remember, and has no money to pay Nissan for modifications, so expect conventional doors, same as the Versa.

You can also forget other fanciful concept features such as Jetsons-style "floating" seats, a pop-up dashboard screen, and rear-seat TV screens. They're just too rich for a compact-class car. However, mainstream infotainment and rear DVD entertainment systems might be available to help the 2010 Dodge Hornet stand further apart from its Nissan parent.

In other respects, the 2010 Dodge Hornet will be a near photocopy of the Versa hatchback. That means a 1.8-liter 4-cylinder engine sending 122 horsepower to the front wheels through a 6-speed manual transmission or an optional 4-speed automatic. A continuously variable automatic transmission (CVT) could also be available if Nissan decides to share that. Other Versa features passing to Hornet should include front-disc power brakes with optional ABS, electric power steering for saving a little gas over a conventional hydraulic setup, front side airbags, and curtain side airbags. The no-cost card should also list active front head restraints (designed to minimize whiplash injury), air conditioning, tilt steering wheel, power mirrors, a split-fold rear seatback, variable-intermittent wipers, rear-window defroster, and rear wiper/washer. Options, too, will be much like Versa's, so look for power windows, power remote-entry door locks, a keyless entry and starting system, remote engine starting, power sunroof, satellite radio, and sporty styling add-ons including a spoiler atop the liftgate.

Dodge dealers probably wish they had the Hornet right now, given that the larger Caliber compact hasn't exactly had people rushing in to buy. Still, it remains to be seen whether a re-trimmed Nissan will do any better. If it doesn't, Chrysler's troubles would seem a lot more serious than Cerberus bargained for.
 

We don't see the 2010 Dodge Hornet being any more innovative than its orthodox Nissan parent. Though Chrysler marketers might come up with an interesting special feature or two, it won't be anything major. There's no money, for one thing, and Nissan can't let Chrysler tinker too much with the basic design, lest production costs spiral out of sight.

Some readers may have a sense of déjà vu about the 2010 Dodge Hornet, and that's no surprise. This isn't the first time Chrysler has teamed up with another automaker more skilled in the small-car art. Remember the Dodge Colts of the 1970s and '80s? Those were re-trimmed Mitsubishis secured through an alliance not unlike the new collaboration with Nissan. We needn't bother to recount the whys and wherefores of that previous partnership, other than to note that Chrysler was in the same dire straits as it is now. Coincidence? We don't think so.

Buying Advice for the 2010 Dodge Hornet

The "Plan B" 2010 Dodge Hornet should be a much more professional effort than it would have been under the original plan. It's generally agreed that China's native automakers, Chery included, still have much to learn about vehicle quality and lag well behind First World companies in mastering safety and emissions technology (though they're bound to catch up on all those counts, and probably sooner than we think). Nissan sourcing also implies the 2010 Dodge Hornet will be in ample supply, which will be good news for Chrysler if sales take off.

That said, the 2010 Dodge Hornet will face stiff competition from many quarters, being positioned below the Caliber as the brand's smaller compact car. That puts it in a growing but very hard-fought group of subcompact and compact cars that naturally includes the parent Nissan Versa, which has much to recommend it right now. The same goes for the highly rated Hyundai Accent, Kia Rio, and Suzuki SX4, all of which will see updates or redesigns in the near future. The Toyota Yaris also deserves a look, if only for the implied virtues of its brand name. Other promising alternatives include the clean-sheet 2009 Honda Fit, Chevrolet's redesigned 2011 Aveo, and Ford's equally new 2011 Fiesta. And that's not counting the slightly larger compact cars that often sell for the same or little more money.

The bottom line is that there's no shortage of good buys among fuel-thrifty cars. But smart shoppers always aim to find the best buy for their particular needs, and Consumer Guide can help, both here online and in the pages of our Car and Truck Test magazines.

2010 Dodge Hornet Release Date: There's nothing official yet, but we should be getting full details on the 2010 Dodge Hornet at a major upcoming auto show, possibly the L.A. expo in November 2008 or at Detroit in January '09. Trade weekly Automotive News reports that Hornet will start production at Nissan's plant in Oppama, Japan sometime during 2009. That implies a sales kickoff as early as next summer and probably no later than fall.

2010 Dodge Hornet First Test Drive: There's no word yet on this, either, but the above timing suggests initial seat-time in late spring or early summer of 2009.

2010 Dodge Hornet Prices: In theory, at least, the Dodge Hornet should cost no more to build than a comparable Nissan Versa. But all car prices keep going up in America because of rising energy and materials costs, the weak dollar, and renewed inflationary pressures on the global economy. With that in mind--and our thinking cap firmly in place--we'd guess the Hornet will run in the $13,500-$15,500 range, depending on model, standard content, and the state of said global economy by the time sales get underway.
 

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