道奇达特在功能配置上打算向宝马（BMW）的时尚品牌Mini取经。它计划向顾客提供高达10万种设备、颜色和功能的配置组合，而不是像大多数竞争车型一样只提供几款标准车型配置。也就是说消费者如果打算对自己的爱车进行定制的话，他们可能得等上四到六周的时间，让厂方根据订单把车配好，然后从伊利诺伊州的贝尔维迪尔工厂运到经销店里。布拉格曼就此指出：“为了简化生产流程，提高生产速度，汽车厂商的车型配置一般都比较有限。但道奇并不担心这个问题，它希望脱颖而出。”

    克莱斯勒非常看好道奇的前景。道奇品牌总监理查德•考克斯表示：“紧凑车市场上的每款车型都具有较好的燃油经济性，我们必须在许多方面都具有竞争力。过去我们的竞争力不够，但我们认为现在达特给消费者提供了新的选择。”至于为消费者提供大量定制配置所需的物流问题，他补充说：“菲亚特在欧洲早就这样做了。”

    道奇达特的销量应该会受益于美国汽车市场的回暖。今年四月美国车市销量年增幅按季节调整后有望达到五年来的最高水平。此外分析人士普遍认为美国车市还会继续看涨。今年美国车市每个月的销售额都超过了权威购车网站Edmunds.com的预期。而且该网站的分析师还认为，克莱斯勒的销售额有望比去年上涨33.8%。

    当然，道奇达特不可避免地会遇到一些挑战。在这个市场区间，几乎每个主要汽车厂商旗下都有几款非常有竞争力的小型车。另外克莱斯勒的财务状况也颇为吃紧，虽说它最近可能赚了不少钱，但对于菲亚特-克莱斯勒这样一个全球战略联盟来说，尚不足以弥补研发新车型和昂贵的新技术所需的开销。大多数分析师都认为克莱斯勒和菲亚特需要继续扩大规模，他们可能会通过拉拢另一个战略伙伴来实现这个目标。达特的销量如果乐观，克莱斯勒的财务基础会进一步得到夯实。另外他们也能以此证明菲亚特-克莱斯勒是一家具有可持续发展前景的企业，让其它规模较小、势单力薄的车企产生加盟的念头。

    译者：朴成奎

    Chrysler intends to distinguish the Dart by taking a page from the likes of BMW's posh Mini brand. It plans to offer customers a vast choice of options and up to 100,000 equipment, colors and feature combinations, instead of a few standard packages, the norm with most competitive vehicles. Buyers who choose to customize their vehicles could wait four to six weeks until the vehicle is built and shipped from Chrysler's Belvidere, Illinois assembly plant. "Automakers generally have limited choice in order to streamline production and build more vehicles faster," notes Bragman. "Dodge isn't worried about that, it wants to stand out."

    The company is bullish on the Dart's prospects. "Everyone in the segment is fuel-efficient, we've got to be competitive in many ways," says Richard Cox, Dodge's brand director. "We've haven't been competitive enough in the past, we think we're giving consumers another choice with the Dart." He adds that logistics of providing mass customization to consumers "is something Fiat already was doing in Europe."

    Chrysler's newest Dodge should benefit from an improving U.S. automotive market. April sales in the U.S. are expected to come in at the highest seasonally adjusted annual rate in five years. What's more, analysts expect the market to continue making progress. Year-to-date sales have beat car-buying site Edmunds.com's estimates every month so far. And, the site's analysts expect Chrysler sales to be up 33.8%, year over year.

    There are challenges, not the least of which are a crop of very competitive small cars from nearly every major automaker. Even Chrysler's financials highlight the automaker's quandary: it is on pace to earn an impressive sum but not one sufficient for a global alliance to develop new vehicles and keep up with costly technology. Chrysler and Fiat need larger scale, most analysts agree, which it could get with another partner. Plenty of Dart sales will further boost Chrysler's balance sheet. They could also show that Chrysler Fiat can be a sustainable enterprise, one with which other automakers – also too small to stand alone – might want to join forces.