Dodge Dart makes debut in Detroit

1/9/2012

BLADE STAFF

Reid Bigland, President and CEO Dodge Brand, introduces the 2013 Dodge Dart at the 2012 North American International Auto Show media preview in Detroit.

DETROIT — Chrysler Group rolled out the all-new Dodge Dart Monday morning, positioning the compact car as technologically packed fuel sipper with potential to become a class-leading vehicle.

The car, which will go on sale in the second quarter of this year as a 2013 model, will start at $15,995, said Dodge brand chief Reid Bigland. That’s nearly $900 less than the 2012-model MSRP on the comparable Chevrolet Cruze and Ford Focus.

All three of the Dart’s engine options will be made at Chrysler’s Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance plant in Dundee, Mich.

Mr. Bigland said in the Dart will be “the most technological advanced compact car in the industry.”

Features are to include a back-up camera, blind-spot monitoring and an 8.4-inch multimedia center display. The automaker continues to push the Dart’s fuel economy, which was recently given an nonadjustable combined rating of more than 41 mpg by the Environmental Protection Agency. Mr. Bigland said the Dart is expected to deliver an actual rating of 40 mpg.