Dart: options and Canadian pricing

Dart-Mouth.com acquired the U.S. prices for numerous Dodge Dart options, along with more competitive comparisons, and added those to their Dart Versus the World page and to their Dart Pricing page. The latter now includes Canadian pricing for various trim levels, including Canada-only standard feature:

Bloomberg: Chrysler ending subvented loan deal with Ally

Chrysler Group yesterday notified Ally Financial, the Detroit-based successor to General Motors Acceptance Corporation, that the operating agreement between the two companies for vehicle financing will not be renewed when the current contract expires in April 2013.

Under the agreement, Chrysler let Ally finance a minimum percentage of vehicles sold with subvented loans, which are made to consumers at below-market rates. Chrysler would then pay Ally the difference. The loans accounted for about five percent of Ally’s loan originations in the first quarter.

The agreement being terminated doesn’t include other business Ally does directly with Chrysler dealers, such as floorplan financing and standard-rate financing for consumers and leasing. Last year, Ally financed for 29 percent of Chrysler’s North American retail sales and 65 percent of its dealer inventory in North America.

Chrysler Group generates about $25 billion in auto loans each year.

Ally, the successor to General Motors Acceptance Corporation, is currently struggling with problems connected with faulty mortgages at Residential Capital LLC, which was heavily involved in the mortgage mess that helped trigger the economic downturn in 2007 and 2008. ResCap is currently late on a $20 million interest payment on $473 million worth of debt. The payment was due last week. Ally itself is trying to repay $17 billion in taxpayer bailouts that left the Treasury Department holding a 74 percent stake in the company.

Chrysler is currently negotiating with Wells Fargo, Santander Holdings USA Inc., General Electric Capital Corp., U.S. Bancorp and JPMorgan Chase & Co. to handle its auto financing.

California Chrysler sales soar in Q1

According to the California New Car Dealers Association (CNCDA), the growth in sales of Chrysler brand vehicles outpaced all other brands in the first quarter of 2012. The organization reports registrations of Chryslers rocketed 222.1 percent in the three months from January to March, easily outpacing second-place Kia’s 3.4 percent. Jeep was third in terms of market growth, with registrations up 39.4 percent, followed by Volkswagen, Mazda and Dodge, where registrations were up 29.3 percent. The next-highest gain for a domestic brand was posted by Ford, up 18.5 percent. GM’s big winner was Chevrolet with registrations 10.8 percent ahead of Q1 2011.

The CNCDA publishes a list of new car registrations sorted by segment. They then publish the top five in each segment. Here are Chrysler’s Top Fives.

For some reason, the CNCDA put the Grand Cherokee in with the Ford Edge, Honda Pilot and Toyota Highlander in Mid-Size SUVs and put the Ford Explorer in full-size SUVs with the Chevy Tahoe Ford Flex and GMC Acadia. The Ford Expedition should have been Ford’s full-size entry. However, as it did nationwide, the Grand Cherokee outsold the Explorer in the Bear State, 2,710 to 2,181.

Passenger car sales took the biggest piece of the pie with a 62.7 percent share, up 1.5%, followed by SUVs with 24.4 percent, down nearly two percent from last year, and pickups and vans with 12.9 percent, up slightly from Q1 2011.

Total California sales growth was up 17.7 percent in Q1, well ahead of the national increase of 13.3 percent.

Source: California New Car Dealers Association

Dart pricing for all models

Dodge has announced US pricing for the 2013 Dodge Dart, most likely to be available at dealers starting in May.

While the base SE model’s price was already announced at $15,995 plus $795 destination ($16,790), the other models were not known at the time, and are coming in lower than Allpar’s original estimates:

• Dodge Dart SXT, $17,995 ($18,790 with destination)
• Dodge Dart Rallye, $18,995 ($19,790)
• Dodge Dart Limited, $19,995 ($20,790)
• Dodge Dart R/T (late availability – Q3), $22,495 ($23,290)

Dart SE comes with the 2-liter four-cylinder with 160 horsepower and 148 lb-ft of torque, with a six-speed manual or optional Hyundai six-speed automatic. It has ten airbags, four-wheel antilock disc brakes with assist, and stability and traction control; it also boasts LED taillamps, six-way manual driver’s seat, power windows, and CD player. The SE comes with “denim” cloth seats.

Moving up to SXT adds 17-inch aluminum wheels, power body-color mirrors, power locks, remote and alarm, six speakers, 60/40 folding rear seat, sliding armrest, and filtered air conditioning. The SXT model allows buyers to get a wide range of options, including the 8.4 inch touch-screen stereo which is not available on SE; other options include 500-watt sound system and rear backup camera.

The Rallye model adds the blackened front bumper and “sporty” colors — black and light gray, dark and light gray, black and red, and dark gray with “citrus peel.” The Rallye has a blackened look with black headlamp bezels, projector fog lamps, integrated dual exhaust, leather wrapped steering wheel, cruise, steering-wheel audio controls, and trip computer.

The Limited adds to SXT a standard painted bumper, 8.4 inch touch screen stereo with rear backup camera, reconfigurable gauge display, floating island bezel, bright grille and handles, ten way power driver’s seat, automatic headlights, active grille shutters (for noise reduction and gas mileage), and premium stitching. It also opens the door to options such as leather seats, heated steering wheel, and rear cross path detection.

Dart R/T looks like Rallye, but has the 2.4 liter Tiger Shark engine with 184 horsepower and 171 lb-ft of torque with six-speed manual or six-speed automatic (with AutoStick).  It adds 18 inch wheels, sport suspension with frequency-sensing shocks, unique front fascia with more black, bright exhaust tips, premium leather seats, dual-zone temperature control, heated seats and heated steering wheel, and the ability to order other options such as HID headlamps.

Allpar / dart-mouth.com had predicted these prices to within $300 at each level.