Automakers used to bring a concept car or two to the auto show as a lark. Chances the concept would be put into production were remote, but the vehicle served two purposes:
It typically looked so novel that it attracted a crowd into that automaker’s display–and the models currently in showrooms.
And it gave the design staff who labored day in and day out on mundane sedans a chance to let their imaginations run wild.
Today, if a concept is at the show, the automaker’s motives are serious–to gauge consumer reaction to learn whether the vehicle would succeed if put into production. Other concepts also give consumers a peek at a model that’s going to be produced.
The Dodge Nitro concept sport-utility vehicle being unveiled at the Chicago Auto Show is one of the latter. It could come out in production form as early as 2006 for the ’07 model year.
“Nitro was inspired by another concept, the Dodge M80,” said Dave McKinnon, vice president of design for Chrysler Group.
Based on the midsize Dodge Dakota, the M80 was shown on the 2002 auto-show circuit as a highly stylized, but low-priced vehicle to attract youth.
The target for the M80 was a base price of $15,000 with a 4-cylinder engine and rear-wheel-drive and $17,500 with a V-6 and four-wheel-drive.
“It takes a year from the time we get an idea until we create a concept for the auto-show circuit,” McKinnon said. “While developing the M80, we decided we needed at the same time to answer the question, `what if the M80 is built and we need to do a derivative of it?’ We felt an SUV would be a natural, so we created a small-scale model of a sport-utility vehicle off the M80.
“We actually finished the small-scale model of the SUV before we were done with the full-size M80 clay model and everyone got excited about it,” he added.
Enter the Nitro.
“The M80 got great feedback. The response at auto shows was terrific. We took a hard look at creating it, but we couldn’t make a business case for it based on the low price point,” McKinnon said. “Tell people you’re going to build a vehicle at a certain price point, and they say do it. Tell them you have to come out at a higher price point and suddenly things change.”
But the SUV made business sense because it never had a specific price target. Besides, Dodge dealers were asking for a sport-ute smaller than the Durango, McKinnon said.
So Dodge took Nitro to the full-size clay model stage to see whether it merited production.
“We looked at which platform would make sense to develop it on. We decided on the Jeep Liberty because consumers are looking for smaller, more city friendly SUVs,” McKinnon said.
For Nitro, the Liberty platform got a stretch and a new body, or what the industry calls a top hat, as a quick and inexpensive change.
Nitro is built on a 108.3-inch wheelbase and is 178.8 inches long overall, which makes it slightly larger than the Liberty at 104.3 inches and 174.4 inches respectively. That also makes Nitro slightly smaller than a Durango, which has a 119.2-inch wheelbase and 200.8-inch overall length.
And to make the project even quicker and less expensive, Nitro also is getting the interior from the popular M80.
The concept went from virtual reality to clay model early last summer, when the sons and daughters of Dodge dealers were brought to Chrysler’s Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters for a look.
“They were 18 to 40 years old in order to get a wide sampling of both ages and genders and they unanimously loved the vehicle,” McKinnon said.
That earned Nitro a spot on the show circuit to determine whether the public was as enamored with it as the dealers’ kids.
“We want to use the auto show to create some excitement in the vehicle to learn if the reaction by the public is the same as it was for the dealers kids and if consumers really want one,” he said.
Dealers’ kids, after all, get to drive everything Dad sells without having to buy one. Nitro is powered by the same 3.7-liter, 210-horsepower V-6 with 4-speed automatic offered in the Liberty and full-time four-wheel-drive.
It has the signature chrome Dodge crosshair grille flanked by rectangular headlamps.
As with any concept, Nitro has attention-getting features that probably would never be offered in a production model. These include 20-inch wheels, common on concepts so they stand high enough to be seen on turntables.
But other goodies would make it into production. They include a DVD-based navigation system and front passenger and rear seats that fold flat for added storage. There’s also an easy-to-clean vinyl covering on the cargo floor, which slides out for easy loading and unloading of packages, plus modular storage bins and a first-aid kit in the rear quarter panels of the vehicle.
While Chrysler Group will conduct some consumer surveys at and after the show, McKinnon said he’ll also use a less scientific approach to determine whether people like Nitro.
“Dealers who work the show are very observant and will report back what they hear. But I’m also going to the show to stand by the vehicle and listen to what people say because you can learn by listening,” McKinnon said.
“You also can learn by watching where the crowds go to learn what’s popular and what’s not.” And then there’s the name. Insiders say Nitro is the current favorite for the production model, but if visitors and browsers feel otherwise, it’s not too late to switch.
