Dodge Avenger

By Tim Pollard

Motor Shows

09 January 2007 04:52

It's the new Dodge Avenger. A Mondeo rival, you say?

That's right. Dodge showed the Avenger for the first time today (previously we'd only seen the concept at Paris in '06) and it'll go on sale in September 2007 to square up to existing family cars. Think of it as a Mondeo on steroids. Dodge knows it must offer something different to the existing Euroboxes - so the Avenger is lavished with a heap of American design cues. Dodge claims it's a mini muscle car, which might be stretching it a bit, but we like the muscular rear haunches, four-point cross-hair grille and kicked-up rear windowline. There's certainly a hint of its Charger brethren in there somewhere. The main challenge for Dodge is to make sure the quality and driving dynamics can match the best for Europe though...

Dodge's new D-segment car shares its oily bits - and market position - with the Chrysler Sebring. So you'll get the choice of 2.0- and 2.4-litre petrol engines, or a VW-sourced 2.0-litre turbodiesel. Will there be a hot SRT version? Probably, given time. The American-spec 235bhp V6 would do nicely, thank you very much. Dodge talks of the Avenger matching the Mazda 6 and its ilk for price; count on around £16k when sales kick off in the autumn. The Sebring will start from around £18k, targeting a slightly older, more conservative audience.

By Tim Pollard