Dodge Journey 2016 News

The shock news comes as Fiat looks at making the Fiat Freemont a niche model in Australia after its successful launch into Europe.In Beijing this week, Fiat's global boss Olivier Francois says the death of Dodge was "likely''. Dodge remains in Australia with only one model, the Journey people mover. Its clone, the Freemont,  is intended to become Fiat's second model here, but there could be a time delay as Fiat allocates time to first establish the 500 as its volume seller. But it is believed Dodge will remain a brand name in one market - the US - purely for historic reasons. Mr Francois says Freemont was a "surprise'' seller in Europe. The car is a seven-seat copy of the Dodge Journey - still sold in Australia - that hit the spot with European buyers because of its simplicity and functionality. But Mr Francois has made it clear that Dodge doesn't have a place in the new Fiat-Chrysler alliance. "To us, the Freemont was an opportunistic car,'' he says. "It was never born a Fiat and we knew it was an American product, so how could it fit into Europe? "Well we have sold 35,000 Freemonts in Europe, built in our plant in Mexico, in less than 12 months. "It is so successful that we now have to lift production.''The Freemont could be in  Australia before the end of 2013, depending on its demand in other markets and the progress  of a roll-out of new cars based on the Fiat 500. 

The Dodge Journey R/T arrives with a host of significant upgrades to styling and equipment. And the Journey R/T scores a powerful 3.6-litre Pentastar 206kW/342Nm V6 Pentastar petrol engine from the SXT variant — the most powerful fitted to an MPV in the Australian market.Both SXT and R/T models gain a fresh new exterior look to compliment the Journey's styling, as well as a new interior featuring a dramatic new dash, along with restyled trim and upgraded equipment.Over and above that, the Journey R/T model enhances customer appeal with an array of new features adding up to more than $3000 extra value over the previous model. However the $43,500 price of the new Dodge Journey R/T is $1500 dearer than the previous version.Standard equipment in the new Journey R/T includes the Pentastar V6, but also leather seats, 8.4-inch touch-screen satellite navigation, second-row overhead video with wireless headphones, a reversing camera, heated front seats and 19-inch alloy wheels. 

The all-new Dodge Journey is designed to blend the practicality of a people mover, the flexibility of an SUV and the overall efficiency of a passenger car.