Friday, November 23, 2007

Dodge History and Future

by Michael Rad

Dodge automobiles came into being in 1914 and started up as the Dodge Brothers Motor Vehicle Company. Later, this company became a subsidiary of the Chrysler Corporation and in 1998 it became a part of the Daimler Chrysler. Finally, in 2007 the Dodge was bought by a private company and is manufactured under the tag of Chrysler Holding LLC.

Dodge is famous mainly for the trucks that come in handy at all times. There have been many models of Dodge launched on the market, including the Dodge Caravan, the Dodge Caliber, the Dodge Dart, Dodge Dakota, Dodge Mini Ram Van, Dodge Nitro, Dodge Raider, Dodge Viper, Dodge Town Wagon and lots others, some of these models are not manufactured anymore, some of these are still a great hit. The latest Dodge models are the Viper SRT 10, the Ram and the Caliber.

The Dodge Viper or the SRT 10 has been released in 1992 and it is a two seated supercar with a FR layout. The Viper has encountered many variants and this has added to its popularity, being included in several video games, films, TV shows and music videos. The Dodge Ram was first introduced in 1981 and was produced until 1998. However, continuing the manufacture of such full size pickup trucks seemed like a good idea for Daimler Chrysler, so they took up the model again. The Ram was called truck of the year twice by the Motor Trend magazine and this has added to the prestige of this sturdy truck.

The future plans for the Ram include a re-thinking of the design which is predicted for 2009. The Dodge Caliber is a fresh model from the Dodge factories. It appeared in 2006 and was meant to replace the Neon. The Caliber is a compact car and it has a four wheel drive with a 5 door hatchback body style. The caliber has many variants including the SE, the SXT, the R/t and the SRT-4.

The upcoming models announced by Dodge are the Challenger, which is due in 2008, and the Nitro and Avenger which should appear in 2007. The Nitro is a 4 door compact SUV and it is also a 4 wheel drive. The Avenger is actually an older model that has been manufactured between 1995 and 2000 and was a mid sized car. From 2008, Dodge intends to re-release the Avenger as a 4 door sedan- these being the second generation Avengers. The Third generation of Challengers is the latest Dodge announced. It will be a pony car with a retro design.

No comments: