????道奇達特在功能配置上打算向寶馬（BMW）的時尚品牌Mini取經。它計劃向顧客提供高達10萬種設備、顏色和功能的配置組合，而不是像大多數競爭車型一樣只提供幾款標準車型配置。也就是說消費者如果打算對自己的愛車進行定制的話，他們可能得等上四到六周的時間，讓廠方根據訂單把車配好，然后從伊利諾伊州的貝爾維迪爾工廠運到經銷店里。布拉格曼就此指出：“為了簡化生產流程，提高生產速度，汽車廠商的車型配置一般都比較有限。但道奇并不擔心這個問題，它希望脫穎而出。”

????克萊斯勒非常看好道奇的前景。道奇品牌總監理查德?考克斯表示：“緊湊車市場上的每款車型都具有較好的燃油經濟性，我們必須在許多方面都具有競爭力。過去我們的競爭力不夠，但我們認為現在達特給消費者提供了新的選擇。”至于為消費者提供大量定制配置所需的物流問題，他補充說：“菲亞特在歐洲早就這樣做了。”

????道奇達特的銷量應該會受益于美國汽車市場的回暖。今年四月美國車市銷量年增幅按季節調整后有望達到五年來的最高水平。此外分析人士普遍認為美國車市還會繼續看漲。今年美國車市每個月的銷售額都超過了權威購車網站Edmunds.com的預期。而且該網站的分析師還認為，克萊斯勒的銷售額有望比去年上漲33.8%。

????當然，道奇達特不可避免地會遇到一些挑戰。在這個市場區間，幾乎每個主要汽車廠商旗下都有幾款非常有競爭力的小型車。另外克萊斯勒的財務狀況也頗為吃緊，雖說它最近可能賺了不少錢，但對于菲亞特-克萊斯勒這樣一個全球戰略聯盟來說，尚不足以彌補研發新車型和昂貴的新技術所需的開銷。大多數分析師都認為克萊斯勒和菲亞特需要繼續擴大規模，他們可能會通過拉攏另一個戰略伙伴來實現這個目標。達特的銷量如果樂觀，克萊斯勒的財務基礎會進一步得到夯實。另外他們也能以此證明菲亞特-克萊斯勒是一家具有可持續發展前景的企業，讓其它規模較小、勢單力薄的車企產生加盟的念頭。

????譯者：樸成奎

????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.