Dodge might have teased us with a few images and some initial powertrain details on the 2013 Dart, but Fiat and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has provided even more in an interview with Reuters.
According to Marchionne, the Dart is one piece of a larger puzzle for Chrysler in 2013, and the all-new Dart – based off a widened and stretched Alfa Romeo Giulietta – will hit 40 mpg thanks to a host of new engines and transmissions.
As previously reported, the turbocharged 1.4-liter MultiAir fitted to the Fiat 500 Abarth will grace the top of the Dart range, but Dodge also plans to fit modified versions of the 2.0 and 2.4-liter World Gas Engine, comically rebranded as the Tigershark.
When the Dart debuts, a Fiat-sourced six-speed dual-clutch transmission will feed the front wheels, but later in 2013 Dodge will reportedly offer a nine-speed automatic gearbox supplied by the ZF Group and manufactured in South Carolina. ZF officials claim fuel economy will be boosted between 10 to 16 percent over the dual-clutch ‘box, and that should put it handily in the 40 mpg range.
And that last bit is important, as Fiat will receive its final five percent of Chrysler stock from the feds when it produces a vehicle with a 40-mpg rating.
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