The LA Times calls the Dart a Party Crasher saying:
Conspicuously absent from this soiree has been Dodge. Its previous offering was a hatchback thing called the Caliber, as in "Boy, this is a really low-caliber product." To no one's disappointment, it left the party in 2011. But now Dodge has returned for the 2013 model year. And this time, it brought along its Italian majority-owner Fiat.
Behold the Dodge Dart, a sedan that starts at $16,790 and should have no trouble making friends. It's American history riding on European success.
PHOTOS: The 2013 Dodge Dart
Beneath the Dart's curvaceous body panels and trademark design cues of current Dodge products is an assemblage of parts sourced from Fiat. (Fiat, you'll remember, owns a majority stake in Chrysler, which owns Dodge). The Dart shares its chassis, suspension, an engine and a transmission with another Fiat entity, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta (pronounced like Romeo's paramour with an A at the end).
This Alfa is a popular sell in Europe and critically appreciated, so Dodge decided to use it as a point of reentry into the critical compact segment on our shores. The company then thumbed through the pages of its automotive history and plucked the successful Dart nameplate last seen in 1976. It will ring nostalgic for some generations, and completely fresh for others.
Read more: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/aug/09/business/la-fi-autos-dodge-dart-review-20120809 .
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