Sometimes in the car world, nothing is what it seems. The new Dodge Journey starring in this article is a perfect example of this. Although the Journey has a model name well-known even to European consumers, the Dodge car is just as American as the Cygnet was an Aston Martin.
Dodge pulled the plug on the European sales adventure in 2011, and so the curtain fell that year for the Journey. At least, in the Netherlands. Elsewhere in Europe, the SUV introduced by Dodge in 2008 was still allowed to continue as Fiat Journey, and the Dodge version continued cheerfully in its home country of the United States. The last Journey rolled off the line last year, but now there’s a completely new one.
Dodge Journey (2008)
Although Dodge applies the Journey model name to an SUV again, the car that serves as the basis for it is in fact not a Dodge at all. The new Dodge Journey is an SUV from the Chinese manufacturer GAC Motor. GAC and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which was incorporated in Stellantis, the former parent company of Dodge, have a partnership that makes it possible for Dodge, among other things, to build and sell cars in China. Now models are also going the other way, because the new Journey is a GAC ​​GS5 with a different nose and its own buttocks with new light units. The GS5 is an SUV brought onto the Chinese market in 2018 that has already been facelifted in China and is sold there as a GS4 Plus next to the ‘old GS5’.
In all cases, the Dodge Journey has a 169 hp 1.5 under the hood, a four-cylinder turbo engine that is linked to a six-speed automatic. Whether the American side is ready to get into a Chinese Dodge? We venture to doubt it. For now, we won’t find out either. The new Dodge Journey is currently only sold in Mexico. The approximately 4.7 meter long SUV has a starting price of about €24,000.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl