The Dodge brand was introduced officially last year with Caliber C-segment hatchback, although some SRT-10 (Viper) and RAM models had trickled onto the European markets, will receive a boost in sales this year with the introduction of right and left hand versions of the Avenger D-segment saloon and the Nitro mid-sized SUV.

Dodge is the budget brand for Chrysler Group which also consists of Chrysler and Jeep models.

By adding the Dodge brand to its international portfolio, Chrysler Group aims to achieve 1.4 per cent market share in Western Europe by 2009 ??“ more than doubling their share compared to 2005.

With continued strong sales Dodge could account for approximately 30 per cent of Chrysler Group??™s overall sales outside North America by the end of 2009. In the USA Dodge has a six per cent market share making it the fifth largest brand.

Last year Dodge sold more than 1.3 million vehicles globally, 30,527 vehicles were sold outside North America.

The UK is currently the number one European market for Dodge sales with 2,600 registrations since last July to the end of February this year. France is second and Germany is third.

The introduction of new Chrysler and Jeep models, plus the Dodge Caliber, helped Chrysler Group in the UK increase their sales by 40 per cent in 2006 to 20,500 units.

Steve Gray, the UK??™s marketing director looks for a similar increase again in 2007 with demand driven by additional new models for all three brands and an increase in the number of UK dealers, from 83 up to 90 by the end of this year and onwards to 100 in 2008.

Source: [url=http://www.askaprice.com/torque-article.asp?article=Dodge_looks_to_Nitro_and_Aveng er_to_gain_UK_foothold&item=2887]MotorTorque[/url]