All-American Avenger an antidote to boring cars

The Dodge Avenger brings style and attitude to mid-size family cars.

Dodge will have no trouble capturing attention with its mid-size concept vehicle, thanks to its muscle-car styling. Unveiled at the Paris motor show, the Dodge Avenger offers a glimpse of a four-door sedan that could sit above the recently introduced Caliber in the growing Dodge vehicle range, offering family space and practicality.

In true Dodge tradition, this take on a family size car is anything but ordinary. Designed to reflect the All-American muscle cars of the past, the Avenger borrows its fastback styling cues from the larger Dodge Charger that sells in the United States and shares many of its components with the Chrysler 300C.

The long bonnet and swept up rear-wheel arches on the Avenger hint at the Dodge Challenger sports coupe announced earlier this year.

"This Avenger concept is another expression of where the Dodge brand is headed," says Chrysler design executive Trevor Creed.

Creed says that all too often, car companies tend to play safe and conservative when designing mid-size family cars and the result is almost always boring.

"The Dodge Avenger is an antidote to the stodgy diet of plain, uninspiring cars," he says.

Dodge says the bold styling gives it street presence. The edgy exterior design features large quad headlamps flanking the distinctive Dodge crosshair grille, which is underlined by a deep air dam below the bonnet.

The long bonnet is counter-balanced by the short boot lid on top of beefy rear wheel-arches; smoked glass, black window surrounds and a sloping roofline all combine to create a long cabin effect.

Instead of slipping a petrol powerplant under the Avenger concept, Dodge used a 2-litre turbodiesel mated to a six-speed manual gearbox.

Modern diesel engines develop large amounts of torque that translate into surprising performance but achieve impressive fuel efficiency.

Dodge is the fifth largest automotive brand in the US, outselling products from its parent Chrysler. It sold more than 1.4 million vehicles worldwide in 2005.

Dodge Caliber is spearheading the brand's expansion into markets outside the US, including New Zealand, during 2006 and will be followed by the Dodge Nitro in 2007.