Well, the local Chrysler dealer has a very narrow definition of 'rust' -- if it has not penetrated through to the top surface they are not going to do anything -- and so the warranty is just so much paper. Too bad, guess its the rustoleum soak technique, as replacing the hood is not in my budget this week.
In the end, it is clearly a fault caused by slovenly processing in the factory, since the right hand side of the foldover was not sealed, is gaping open about 2mm. If I had pointed out the gap earlier, as I did with my disintegrating driver door weather seal, it would have been a shrug, what do you expect us to do about it kind of attitude. The net result is that while the engineering quality is pretty good, this otherwise very nice little car will end up looking pretty scarred. Too bad, I would not have minded paying for a more proactive approach to car maintenance.