The next chapter in the Chrysler Group's onslaught on the European market starts at this week's Paris Motor Show with the Dodge Avenger concept car pictured here.

Though billed as a concept and with Peter Lambert, Managing Director of Chrysler Group UK, stating that "...the Avenger concept only hints at the latest vehicle from Dodge...", we have also been told that a production version will be on sale in the UK in right-hand drive by next summer, based on the Chrysler Sebring.

Muscle car looks are provided courtesy of bulging wheelarches and sills, allied to a kink in the waist reminiscent of the heydays of the breed. Saying that, the Avenger is bang up to date with the rest of the Dodge range, featuring prominent 19-inch alloys and the trademark crosshair grille.

As if launching the concept in Europe was not a clear enough sign of the importance of this car to Dodge in this part of the world, the show car has been fitted with a 2-litre turbodiesel. If the Avenger follows its Caliber brother, it is likely to undercut the competition and offer a distinctive image. We expect to see the production version of this car at the 2007 Detroit Motor Show. Watch this space for more news.

Shane O' Donoghue - 26 Sep 2006