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Introducing the All-New Dodge Journey Crossover

Auburn Hills, Mich. - The all-new Dodge Journey redefines the expanding mid-size crossover segment, offering seating versatility, safety and security, cargo flexibility and great all-weather driving capability. Add in its youthful, sporty look, fun-to-drive dynamics, great features and a best-in-class and the Dodge Journey gives customers the complete value package.

As the next chapter in the Dodge brand’s global expansion, the Journey is designed to meet the needs of customers ranging from young singles, couples and families with small children to mature families who want the capability to do more.

Designed from the ground up, Dodge Journey is a right-sized crossover that combines the versatility of a larger sport-utility vehicle with the efficiency of a passenger car. With available electronic all-wheel drive, a fluid six-speed transmission with Auto Stick, 30-gigabyte hard drive and real-time traffic monitoring, ParkView™ Rear Back-up Camera, uconnect phone system that is Bluetooth compatible, a Universal Customer Interface (UCI) for iPod connectivity, Dodge Journey is equipped with the latest in technology.

Dodge Journey features unique seating and best-in-class storage solutions. With the simple turn of a single lever, the available 5+2-passenger seating system quickly folds the Tilt ’n Slide™ second-row seat cushion upward and slides the entire seat forward, allowing third-row passengers easy in-and-out access. Two available integrated child booster seats, a first in the mid-size crossover segment, quickly pull out from the second-row seat cushion, eliminating the need to transport bulky child seats into the Journey. Spacious storage bins, including the Flip ‘n Stow™ front-passenger concealed storage, Chill Zone™ glove box beverage cooler and dual in-floor bins with liners in the second row are easy to reach and stores gear to increase passenger comfort.

With more than 35 advanced safety and security technologies available and a Five Star government front- and side-crash test rating, Dodge Journey delivers peace of mind for its passengers. With standard advanced multi-stage driver and front-passenger air bags, standard front-seat-mounted (thorax) side air bags, standard three-row side-curtain air bags, tire pressure monitoring, four-wheel disc anti-lock brakes (ABS), Electronic Stability Program (ESP), Electronic Roll Mitigation (ERM), Brake Assist, Trailer Sway Control, structural safety cage with side-door impact beams and an available back-up camera, Dodge Journey features the latest safety and security features.

WHAT’S NEW

EXTERIOR

INTERIOR SAFETY AND SECURITY DESIGN

The exterior design of the all-new Dodge Journey is unmistakably Dodge with powerful, masculine exterior styling cues that evoke the capable look associated with SUVs, perfect proportions that make it the right size for city streets and easy garage parking and interior features and flexibility unseen in the segment.

Dodge Journey adapts the company’s D-segment architecture, which is also used on Dodge Avenger. In fact, from the B-pillar forward, Journey shares architecture with its Avenger sibling. However, Journey’s 113.8-inch (2890 mm) wheelbase is 4.9 inches (124 mm) longer than Avenger’s to accommodate its available third-row seating for as many as seven passengers and additional cargo space. Rearward of the C-pillar, the body possesses a unique shape for passengers and cargo. An additional D-pillar reinforcement that spans the floor to the roof enhances occupant protection and reduces noise, vibration and harshness.

From the front, Journey’s signature crosshair chromed grille with the Dodge Ram’s head stamped in the center hammers home the Dodge brand message that Journey is bold, powerful and capable. Modern-looking quad halogen headlamps provide excellent road lighting. Available fascia-mounted fog lamps strengthen the contemporary look and help boost visibility during bad weather. Body-color fascias provide a monochromatic look that neatly frames the chromed crosshair grille and headlamps.

Setting it apart from the crossover pack, Dodge Journey boasts available 19-inch wheels and tires, which define its strong stance. From the side view, Dodge Journey’s horizontal aluminum hood, long daylight opening and low-gloss black appliqués on the B-pillars and C-pillars give the appearance of a long greenhouse. Sculpted wheel arches emphasize Journey’s sporty, athletic appearance. Dodge Journey’s beltline is more angled in front, but less so toward the rear, mimicking the top of the tail lamp shape, which makes it easier for rear-seat passengers to see out the windows — a bonus for smaller passengers. Available high-contrast black cross bars with chromed side rails add capability and complete Journey’s side view.

The Dodge Journey’s rear view elicits as much excitement as the front. The Journey’s lightweight composite liftgate includes an integrated spoiler that delivers improved aerodynamics. A light-emitting diode (LED) center high-mounted stop lamp (CHMSL) is mounted in the liftgate header above the glass. Like the integrated spoiler above it, the outer surface of the CHMSL is styled for aerodynamics. Four-piece jeweled red tail lamps span the width of both the liftgate and the body and feature unique curves that give the Journey added style and sportiness. The rear glass on the liftgate’s lower edge follows the curvature of the tail lamps to improve visibility through the rear window.

Spacious Interior Room for the Entire Journey
A key target for the Dodge Journey’s design team was to deliver a spacious, practical, flexible interior with seating and innovative storage features typically only found in a minivan, and the final product delivers the complete package.

The key to Dodge Journey’s seating and storage success is the vehicle’s two-box exterior design, which provides more room for seating people and storing gear. Journey offers a choice of two seating configurations to balance buyers’ needs for passenger seating and cargo room. Five-passenger seating is standard on all models, while 5+2 seating for as many as seven passengers is available on SXT and R/T models. The Journey’s available third row gives passengers two inches (51 mm) more head room than leading North American competitors and accommodates up to 95th percentile passengers comfortably.

Storing things “under the front seat” takes on an entirely new meaning, thanks to Journey’s available Flip ’n Stow in-seat storage. The Journey’s front passenger seat cushion is hinged and flips forward to reveal a large 10.75 x 8.75-inch (273 x 222 mm) bin under the seat cushion. The bin is large enough to store a purse, umbrella, camera, planner or headphones. The cushion can remain in the forward position in order to prevent items from sliding onto the floor.

The Journey’s center console includes an adjustable sliding center armrest that moves forward and back three inches for driver comfort. It also includes a spacious 305 cu.-in. storage bin that can hold 10 DVDs or 15 CDs for added utility.

The Dodge Journey’s glove box serves as a dual utility space for both easy-to-store smaller items, along with the standard Chill Zone™ bottled beverage cooler.

Moving to the back seat, Dodge Journey’s rear doors open 90 degrees, making it easier for people to get in and out of the second row and gain access to the available third-row seat. It also makes getting a child in and out of a child safety seat much more convenient.

The all-new Dodge Journey also features stadium seating. This gives passengers in the second and third row the ability to see outside the vehicle, which is especially helpful for keeping kids entertained on long drives. The second row H-point is 1.6 inches (40 mm) higher than the first row. The available third row sits another 0.6 inches (17 mm) higher than the second row and 2.2 inches (57 mm) higher than the first-row seats. Located in the floor behind the front-row seats are two standard in-floor storage bins that are each designed to hold a dozen 12-oz. (330 ml) cans plus ice or other items out of sight. For added convenience, each bin features latching lids and removable, washable liners, so they’re a snap to clean.

Additional thoughtful features that make Dodge Journey more flexible for families is a child presenter seat on all models, which makes it easy for the front passenger to attend to a small child seated in the second row. The child presenter seat works by allowing the 60/40 fold-flat second-row seat to travel forward and rearward a total of 4.7 inches (119.4 mm) in order to bring children closer to the front seats so they may be attended to and provide more cargo room behind the seats or additional third-row leg room.

Dodge Journey also is the first vehicle in the mid-size crossover segment to offer available integrated child booster seats. These boost a child seated in the second row four inches (102 mm) so they’re positioned in the adult-belted zone. This makes it easier for the child to see outside the vehicle. The booster seats are designed for children who are as much as four foot, nine inches (1.45 m) tall and between 48 lbs. (22 kg) and 85 lbs. (39 kg).

The integrated booster seat will be much appreciated, both by parents raising a young family or grandparents who take the grandkids for a weekend. With this built-in feature, there’s no need to buy extra booster seats or to remember to transfer them between cars.

The center section of the Dodge Journey’s second-row seatback folds forward to provide two cup holders and a bin for temporary storage of small electronics, snacks, crayons or other small items.

The available third-row seat is easy to get into, thanks to Journey’s Tilt ’n Slide second-row seats. With the turn of a single lever on the side of the seat back, seat cushions easily fold upward and the seat slides forward. Journey’s available 50/50 split-folding third-row seat provides room for two passengers on an as-needed basis. The seatback reclines six degrees to make the ride even more comfortable. A rear in-floor hidden storage bin located behind the available third-row seat is standard on seven-passenger equipped models.

In addition to seating and storage features, Dodge Journey’s versatile and functional interior features soft, directional LED lighting and many soft surfaces. LED lights provide illumination for front-seat passengers and high-intensity pinpoint lighting lets passengers read maps or books without distracting the driver.

ENGINEERING

Six-speed Transaxle Provides Quick Acceleration, Quiet Ride

The Dodge Journey features a fluid six-speed automatic transaxle, which provides quicker standing-start acceleration than a four- or five-speed transaxle because of a numerically higher first-gear ratio. A more robust differential with increased torque capacity enhances launch performance by requiring less torque management, electronically limiting the torque that is available during initial stages of standing-start acceleration. Smaller steps between ratios also make for a smooth, quiet ride as the engine speed doesn’t change as much with each shift. In addition to more ratio choices, more appropriate ratios for quicker acceleration and a lower overall top-gear ratio provide a quiet ride and improved fuel economy at highway speeds.

Two-box Design Results in Added Reinforcements, Structure

Dodge Journey’s two-box design, as well as its many functional requirements for seating, cargo, storage and safety, define its structure. Journey is built on the same platform as Dodge Avenger, and in fact, from the B-pillar forward, the two vehicles share the same architecture. However, structural commonalities differ from there.

High-strength and ultra-high-strength steel encompass more than one-third of the Dodge Journey’s body structure, providing drivers and passengers a safe, solid vehicle that delivers excellent impact performance, a smooth ride and solid handling.

By mass, 36 percent of Dodge Journey’s structure contains hot-stamped and high-strength steels for optimized weight and structural performance. Use of dual-phase steel in front and rear rails, tunnel reinforcements and sills permit components to handle greater loads than conventional steels.

Hot-stamped steel A-pillars and B-pillars reduce upper body weight in the Dodge Journey by 30 lbs. compared with conventional steel equivalents. Dodge Journey also features a composite liftgate, which is an alternative to traditional steel and reduces weight by 20 percent compared with steel. This lightens the overall weight of the vehicle and makes the liftgate easy to close.

Rearward of the C-pillar, the Dodge Journey has a unique shape to accommodate both passengers and cargo. An additional D-pillar reinforcement spans the floor to the roof, providing occupant protection and reducing noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) characteristics. Changes to the floor pan and in the body to reduce NVH and improve impact performance. These include: World-class Use of Structural Adhesives and Sealants Provide Quiet Ride

The Dodge Journey features world-class levels of structural adhesives, which improve stiffness when compared with spot and laser welding. Dodge Journey benefits from the extensive application of pumpable and moldable sealers in the upper body to reduce road, wind and powertrain noise. Seam sealing is applied both inside and outside the body, instead of just inside.

The use of the next generation of elastic adhesives in Dodge Journey adds strength to joints during an impact. Effective joint designs create a rigid structure, minimizing NVH inputs to the passenger compartment and increasing body stiffness through enhanced structural continuity.

iPod Interface

The Dodge Journey offers an available UCI connector located in the glove box. This allows an iPod to be plugged into the vehicle’s sound system to play music through the vehicle’s speakers, charge/recharge the iPod when the ignition is on, display artists and music choices on the radio and pause-play when uconnect tunes receives a phone call. The iPod may be controlled through radio controls and remote steering-wheel switches.

uconnect phone

uconnect phone uses Bluetooth technology to provide wireless communication between the customer’s compatible mobile phone and the vehicle’s onboard receiver. uconnect phone’s control buttons are integrated into the Journey’s radio head unit.

uconnect phone features include:
  • Voice dialing: voice commands may be used to digit-dial the phone or access pre-stored voice tags
  • Audio address book: thirty-two names, four numbers per name, for a total of 128 phone numbers may be stored in the system
  • Audio-system mute: mutes the microphone for privacy
  • Call transfer: allows the customer to transfer a call from the vehicle’s system to the mobile phone
  • Three language options: provides English, French and Spanish language capabilities
  • Multi-phone recognition: recognizes as many as seven phones that may be used within one Journey system
    • PRODUCT HIGHLIGHTS
    MARKET POSITION (based on US data)
    The all-new Dodge Journey gives buyers a crossover vehicle that meets life’s changing demands by offering a unique combination of versatility, flexibility, safety and technology in a sporty, stylish package. Journey makes a powerful statement by blending the capability of a sport-utility vehicle (SUV) and the overall efficiency of a passenger car into an all-new “right-sized” crossover for the Dodge brand.

    In the Dodge brand lineup, Journey falls between the compact Dodge Caliber and the Grand Caravan. This all-new mid-size crossover offers young pre-family singles, couples and young families, as well as active empty nesters, an affordable, versatile crossover vehicle with bold Dodge styling, innovative features and available 5+2 seating for as many as seven passengers without making them sacrifice fuel economy, quality or reliability. Dodge Journey provides a safe and exciting “right-sized” vehicle that can haul people or cargo and still deliver an image that is both stylish and capable.

    The primary Dodge Journey buyer is 25-35 years old. These buyers are young singles and couples or young families. Sixty-seven percent of them are female and they earn a median income of $78,000 a year. Sixty percent are married and sixty percent have a college degree. These buyers have yet to start a family or have one or two children younger than 6 years old. They are confident, capable, active and open to new experiences. These buyers want and need Dodge Journey’s seating and storage flexibility, but they aren’t yet ready to make the jump into a minivan.

    The secondary Journey buyers are mature families and active empty nesters who are an average age of 60 years old. Eighty percent are married. Forty-eight percent are female. Their median income is $75,000. Half of them have graduated from college. The Dodge Journey answers a need for these buyers who want more functionality than they can get in a car and more efficiency than they can get from an SUV.

    MARKET ADVANTAGES