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WROCLAW, Poland The 2008 Dodge Avenger R/T sedan was the last car I drove before coming to this picturesque city on the Odra River. It apparently will be the last Dodge mid-size sedan developed, designed and manufactured under the Daimler-Chrysler name, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

DaimlerChrysler, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, sold 80 percent of its U.S.-based Chrysler Group last week, ending a relationship that began as a lie nine years ago when it was described by both parties as “a merger of equals.”

I’ll give more thought to that matter in this Sunday’s Car Culture column. Here, I wish to discuss the Avenger as a symbol of what happens when a corporate marriage is consummated in falsehood — in this case, the pretense that the party being bought, Chrysler, would be treated as an equal by the party doing the buying, the former Daimler-Benz, which is likely to reacquire its maiden name early next fall.

What happens is compromise — a tortured compromise for the Avenger, a mainstream family car with polarizing niche-market styling, available with front-wheel-drive or all-wheel-drive; an automobile that can be had with a modest 173-horsepower, four-cylinder engine that mocks its muscle-car looks, or can be obtained with a slightly more beefy 189-horsepower V-6, or a 235-horsepower V6 that gives it a modicum of sporting credibility.

In short, the Avenger, which replaces the Dodge Stratus sedan, tries to be everything to everyone, an unfortunate exercise that leaves it wanting in certain areas and undermines its otherwise good qualities in others. It is a car that lacks definition and, thus, comes off as less than believable.

That is a serious problem, one complicated by rivals, including General Motors, that are turning out well designed, high-quality, consistently themed mid-size sedans that trump the Avenger and its mechanically and structurally identical sibling, the Chrysler Sebring, in almost every meaningful way. Look at the Saturn Aura and the upcoming, completely reworked edition of the Chevrolet Malibu. Look at the Hyundai Sonata and Ford Fusion. Check out perennial favorites, the Honda Accord, Toyota Camry and Nissan Altima.

All those competitors are products of a unified corporate commitment to a specific goal — the development of affordable, attractive, high-quality family sedans that deliver more comfort, performance, safety and operational convenience than their mostly middle-income buyers expect for their money.

By comparison, the Avenger, like the bickering, intra-competitive company that spawned it, seems to be a car at odds with itself — styled to attract the young and the restless, but engineered with soft ride and handling features that would bore most young driving enthusiasts silly, even in the form of the somewhat sporty Avenger R/T model tested for this week’s column.

At 59 years old, I like the Avenger R/T’s cushy ride and handling. But I would never consider buying the car, because its styling bespeaks unbridled adolescence, a stage of life I exited a long time ago. Also, my assistant, Ria Manglapus, who also drove the Avenger R/T in Virginia, “loved” the optional center-console cup holders that can cool or heat liquids. But she’s a mom with teenage and sub-teen sons, as opposed to being a member of the “fast and furious” crowd Dodge supposedly is trying to reach with the Avenger.

What is needed at Dodge, what is needed at all of what is passing from the scene as the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler, is a management team with consistent, unified product focus — something that was lacking over the last nine years while Chrysler people in America were busy looking over their shoulders worrying about what Daimler people in Germany were thinking.

Now, they know.

In Germany, many bankers, directors and executives of the parent company were thinking that Daimler-Benz made a serious mistake by changing its name and getting into bed with Chrysler.

In correcting that mistake by selling 80.1 percent of Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management, Daimler might have set the stage for correcting another error — the lack of clear product focus in the development of cars such as the Dodge Avenger R/T and other equally confused and confusing models, such as the Dodge Caliber crossover utility vehicle. Here’s hoping anyway.

Nuts & Bolts 2008 Dodge Avenger R/T

Complaint: The Avenger R/T makes too many promises, delivers too few. It’s not the hot rod it looks like. It’s not entirely the family sedan it should be.

Ride, acceleration and handling: You get into an automobile with muscle-car styling and an “R/T” badge and you expect to have some old-fashioned, road-running fun. But the Avenger R/T is as mild-mannered as a Toyota Camry on a Sunday drive.

Head-turning quotient: Looks hot, but it’s not.

Body style/layout: The Avenger is a front-engine, mid-size family sedan with four doors and a traditional notchback trunk. It is available with front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive. It comes in three trim levels — base SE, mid-level SXT, and sporty R/T.

Engines/transmissions: There are three engines — a 2.4-liter, 173-horsepower inline four-cylinder; a 2.7-liter, 189-horsepower V-6; and a 3.5-liter, 235-horsepower V-6 in the tested R/T. The R/T has a six-speed automatic transmission that also can be shifted manually. A four-speed automatic is standard for the SE and SXT.

Capacities: The Avenger R/T has seating for five people. Trunk capacity is 13 cubic feet. The fuel tank holds 16.9 gallons of recommended regular unleaded gasoline.

Safety: Good. Standard equipment includes four-wheel antilock brakes, side and head air bags. Electronic stability and traction control are optional and are recommended by this column.

Price: The base price for the tested 2008 Dodge Avenger R/T is $22,870. Dealer’s invoice price on base model is $21,870. Price as tested is $26,545, including $3,000 in options (leather-covered seats, heated front seats, hot/cold cup holders, remote start system, premium sound system, power sunroof) and a $675 destination charge. Dealer’s price as tested is $24,543. Prices sourced from DaimlerChrysler and http://www.edmunds.com.

Purse-strings: The Avenger R/T is a decent mid-size family car with muscle-car pretensions surrounded by better-designed, higher quality competitors. Comparison shop with all mid-size cars.