Dodge Hornets are dropping like flies.

FordP3 said:
I've never met a DCT I ever liked. The failure rates are very high as well, and the expense to buy them in a new vehicle.
Give me SOME simplicity like a decent 5 speed gear box.
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Eh 6 speed manual transmission gives great ratios for accelerating and cruising. Alot of people still confuse dct's with the single clutch SMG or Ferrari F1 transmission that would get chewed up in stop and go traffic. When I worked for a VW dealership all of the diesel Jetta and passats were dsg transmissions. They were always snappy and smooth shifting.
 
They’re still running ads for the Hornet. Reminds me of a movie scene from Dirty Mary and Crazy Larry where the Sheriffs mechanic is prepping two Dodge police cars and the deputies ask the mechanic what’s the top speed of them. The mechanic says “ Unlimited”

The print ad is more mundane but they reveal the top speed of the Hornet. It’s 137 mph.
 
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edhackett said:
You spelled Romero wrong.

Ed
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I rest my case.

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as much as I love Dodge/Chrysler, they always so frequently, completely and totally screw up so badly, by releasing new cars that nobody wants.

I think the biggest problem with the hornet is people have found out that it’s a rebadged Alfa Romeo. Alfa Romeo does not have a good perception in North America, because of their history in North America. It hasn’t worked before, and it won’t work now.

Then when an “new car” flops, instead of improving their current “unpopular car”, they just don’t learn from the mistake, and they just scrap the car. Then try a totally different approach without learning from previous mistakes, and then screw up again. This happens over and over again, and every once in a blue moon, they get some cars right, like the ram trucks and challenger/chargers, and the Pacifica.

And we know how the story of chargers went with the recent release of an EV version, with an inline 6 option.

Maybe it’s the constant buy outs of the brand that is causing this, or the upper management of the brand just do not understand what they are doing.

The engineers of Dodge have proven that they can make truly great cars, but it just seems the engineers get squeezed and squeezed by the upper management and they just don’t get to really produce cars that actually become mainstream.
 
FTTSHO said:
...I think the biggest problem with the hornet is people have found out that it’s a rebadged Alfa Romeo.
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I disagree. This is not their biggest problem (more on that later).
People didn't "find out" that the Hornet is a rebadged Alfa. Dodge proudly (and rightfully) bragged about it and advertised on it.

FTTSHO said:
Alfa Romeo does not have a good perception in North America, because of their history in North America. It hasn’t worked before, and it won’t work now.
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Alfa actually got a great perception in North America when they came back ten years ago - 25 years were enough for most people to forget what an amazing bag of worms Italian cars are.

Alfa was given all the benefit of the doubt they could get, plenty of good will, the Giulia was an amazing proposition, the Stelvio is beautiful to this day, reviews were stellar. All the stars were aligned for them to succeed.

FTTSHO said:
Dodge have proven that they can make truly great cars, but it just seems the engineers get squeezed and squeezed by the upper management and they just don’t get to really produce cars that actually become mainstream.
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Not in my book. They have always been good in making wonky monsters, they managed to not mess up the mercedes platforms they were given, but that's about it. They worked hard into making every one of their mainstream cars laughable. They never needed the Italians for that.

I lived in Europe when the Neon and Stratus were released, and they both got a lot of positive attention chassis-wise. Even the French praised them, explicitly stating that these are the first US made mainstream cars that don't make them laugh and feel right. Little did they know how they'll age up though.

The Hornet was pure bingo for Dodge. They couldn't make a car that drives, rides and looks like it does with seventy seven government bailouts.

What they didn't or couldn't account for is that they were working with the Italian automotive industry, which has managed to maintain in a sustainable and repeatable way an ancestral tradition of electric, later electronic, and fuel delivery gremlins, that was the case for the last 50+ years.

This is even statistically improbable, but it is a fact. Their cars exhibit the same issues in 2020 as they did in 1970.

A winning formula would have been for Dodge to put their engineering expertise in reworking what Alfa feeds them into something that works reliably.

Alfa relied on selling cars that break like German cars to a clientele that buys either German and won't go elsewhere, or Lexus and would expect reliability. Dodge relied on hitching that train corncob pipe in mouth and joyful tune on their lips, raking the money in. Didn't work
 
goblin said:
I disagree. This is not their biggest problem (more on that later).
People didn't "find out" that the Hornet is a rebadged Alfa. Dodge proudly (and rightfully) bragged about it and advertised on it.


Alfa actually got a great perception in North America when they came back ten years ago - 25 years were enough for most people to forget what an amazing bag of worms Italian cars are.

Alfa was given all the benefit of the doubt they could get, plenty of good will, the Giulia was an amazing proposition, the Stelvio is beautiful to this day, reviews were stellar. All the stars were aligned for them to succeed.


Not in my book. They have always been good in making wonky monsters, they managed to not mess up the mercedes platforms they were given, but that's about it. They worked hard into making every one of their mainstream cars laughable. They never needed the Italians for that.

I lived in Europe when the Neon and Stratus were released, and they both got a lot of positive attention chassis-wise. Even the French praised them, explicitly stating that these are the first US made mainstream cars that don't make them laugh and feel right. Little did they know how they'll age up though.

The Hornet was pure bingo for Dodge. They couldn't make a car that drives, rides and looks like it does with seventy seven government bailouts.

What they didn't or couldn't account for is that they were working with the Italian automotive industry, which has managed to maintain in a sustainable and repeatable way an ancestral tradition of electric, later electronic, and fuel delivery gremlins, that was the case for the last 50+ years.

This is even statistically improbable, but it is a fact. Their cars exhibit the same issues in 2020 as they did in 1970.

A winning formula would have been for Dodge to put their engineering expertise in reworking what Alfa feeds them into something that works reliably.

Alfa relied on selling cars that break like German cars to a clientele that buys either German and won't go elsewhere, or Lexus and would expect reliability. Dodge relied on hitching that train corncob pipe in mouth and joyful tune on their lips, raking the money in. Didn't work
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Do/have you owned one? Son owns an Alfa Stellvio that's super reliable and better looking than most cars. And he's a guy that thinks even cleaning a windshield is too much trouble. I'd take one over a comparable BMW.
 
willbur said:
Do/have you owned one? Son owns an Alfa Stellvio that's super reliable and better looking than most cars. And he's a guy that thinks even cleaning a windshield is too much trouble. I'd take one over a comparable BMW.
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I love the Stelvio. Love the Giulia. I wish they didn't get the rap they got. I was rooting for Alfa to succeed. Still am. But they got a rap here. I didn't build it. They did. And as usual - it's for silly, stupid things. For gremlins. Not even for destroying your engine when the accessory belt would jump off, or seizing your engine on cold morning after a freezing overnight, like a BMW would.

I have owned Italian Alfas back in Europe. It was like living with a psychopatic wife. Nothing beats it on a good day, but bad days a plenty. My first one, the Giulietta, had two double Dell'Ortos. Won't wish this on my worst enemy.
 
goblin said:
I love the Stelvio. Love the Giulia. I wish they didn't get the rap they got. I was rooting for Alfa to succeed. Still am. But they got a rap here. I didn't build it. They did. And as usual - it's for silly, stupid things. For gremlins. Not even for destroying your engine when the accessory belt would jump off, or seizing your engine on cold morning after a freezing overnight, like a BMW would.

I have owned Italian Alfas back in Europe. It was like living with a psychopatic wife. Nothing beats it on a good day, but bad days a plenty. My first one, the Giulietta, had two double Dell'Ortos. Won't wish this on my worst enemy.
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Good for you! I apply my "son test"- if it can survive his use and care- it's gotta be good.
 
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