GM isn't the only automaker suffering from corporate ADD; Chrysler's marketing department seems similarly afflicted. Yesterday, they announced yet another marketing schtick. Hot on the heels of "New Day," the Consumer Advisory Board and "Chrysler Listens" comes "If you can dream it, we can build it." That seems like a pretty bold promise coming from a company that can't even get a subcompact car to market. Anyway, the press release quotes Spinmaster Supreme Deborah Meyer: "Chrysler is moving on all fronts to engage our customers and harness their insights, inspirations and dreams as we move quickly to develop and refine new technologies and products." That's great! I'll take a hybrid passenger car with room for five that gets 45mpg in the city, goes 0-60 in under seven seconds and handles like an M3. There… I've dreamed it. When can you build it?
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Don’t post hideous looking things like in the picture, Chrysler might build it.
I think it’s a typo it was meant to be:
Chrysler – we dream it, somebody else builds it.
“That seems like a pretty bold promise coming from a company that can’t even get a subcompact car to market.”
that’s surprisingly funny because it’s so true.
How about a transmission that can last longer than 60,000 miles?
I propose taking a group of average folks with varying incomes, lifestyles, ect. and seeing what they would like built and what features are important to them. Maybe some of them would like decent interiors, others might want heated cup holders, others cooled. Some might want both. Use that data and build a car that’s class competitive or better, advertise it, sell it. Repeat process 2-3 years later. They could call it a FOCUS group, and perhaps have more than one to eliminate statistical abnormalities, like heated/cooled cupholders.
I put in a suggestion, and have had no response, I suggested they figure out how to make the chrome on the logos of their vehicles not peel off in the first 6 months. Thought I would start with a small dream for them.
daro31 :
April 8th, 2008 at 8:45 am
I put in a suggestion, and have had no response, I suggested they figure out how to make the chrome on the logos of their vehicles not peel off in the first 6 months.
That would involve using glue and Chrysler’s is all about cost cutting
Wow…”M3″, “45MPG” and “Chrysler” all in the same article.
Keep dreaming guys.
-ted
When I tell mother mopar what I want they usualy tell me that they have a consumer board that figures what people want and correct my thoughts for me. At least they seemed to have mostly listened on the challenger…. we’ll see
I’ll take a flying car powered by a perpetual motion machine.
The Sebring must have sprung from a nightmare.
Makes you wish Chrysler has insomnia.
Along the same lines as Bluecon, I would say that Chrysler has failed to tell us that the dream is, in fact, a terrible nightmare.
Customer focus groups aren’t always the best ideas…I mean GM used a focus group for the Aztek after all.
I suppose if they had good product design from the start they wouldn’t have to try and do things like this.
It will be true someday. With increasing automation and improvements in manufacturing technology, some car manufacturer will eventually be able to offer custom-built rides. You’d log on to a website, select a base platform and drivetrain, and upload a CAD file or pick from a menu for body panels, interior, and such.
That’s not gonna happen anytime soon, though, and it sure won’t be Chrysler that does it.
I would have thought the picture accompanying the article would have been Homer Simpsons dream vehicle. Then again , as Bill Wade said, they might see it and actually build it. It would still look better then the Avenger though.
“Chrysler is moving on all fronts to engage our customers and harness their insights, inspirations and dreams as we move quickly to develop and refine new technologies and products.”
Am I the only one who reads this as: “Well, we’re out of ideas. You guys got anything?”
On the other hand, since their own (and Ford’s, and GM’s) efforts to figure out what people want to buy have failed, I guess asking people isn’t too bad of idea!
Corinthian leather!
John R :
How about a transmission that can last longer than 60,000 miles?
They’ve already done that. The 41TE automatic in my ’03 Dodge Caravan is working just fine at 81,000 miles (knock on wood). I did have to install two new speed sensors last month, but aside from that it’s been trouble-free.
“It will be true someday. With increasing automation and improvements in manufacturing technology, some car manufacturer will eventually be able to offer custom-built rides. You’d log on to a website, select a base platform and drivetrain, and upload a CAD file or pick from a menu for body panels, interior, and such.”
The trend has been the exact opposite. For the sake of efficiency, choices have been drastically limited over time. In 1965 you could custom order from GM a dizzying array of body panels, powertrains, colors, interior fabrics and many individual options. The Chevrolet brand alone had five passenger car platforms, except for Corvette, in three trim levels, 2 and 4 door sedans, 2 and 4 door hardtops, convertible, 2 and 3 row station wagons, 15 paint colors plus two-tones, cloth and vinyl in six colors, five transmissions, a dozen or more engines, etc.
“Chrysler is moving on all fronts to engage our customers and harness their insights, inspirations and dreams as we move quickly to develop and refine new technologies and products.”
Wow! I didn’t know that Chrysler outsourced their PR work to North Korea! Doesn’t the above quote sound strikingly familiar to the usual garbage published by the DPRK?
“The Democratic Peoples’ Republic of Korea is moving on all fronts to engage our peace-loving comrades and harness their insights, inspirations and dreams as we move quickly to develop and refine new technologies and products.”
nikita :
April 8th, 2008 at 11:34 am
“It will be true someday. With increasing automation and improvements in manufacturing technology, some car manufacturer will eventually be able to offer custom-built rides. You’d log on to a website, select a base platform and drivetrain, and upload a CAD file or pick from a menu for body panels, interior, and such.”
The trend has been the exact opposite. For the sake of efficiency, choices have been drastically limited over time. In 1965 you could custom order from GM a dizzying array of body panels, powertrains, colors, interior fabrics and many individual options. The Chevrolet brand alone had five passenger car platforms, except for Corvette, in three trim levels, 2 and 4 door sedans, 2 and 4 door hardtops, convertible, 2 and 3 row station wagons, 15 paint colors plus two-tones, cloth and vinyl in six colors, five transmissions, a dozen or more engines, etc.
Now, you can order your Cobalt in fantastic colors such as white, black, beige, and three shades of gray, with dark gray or somewhat lighter gray interior, and you’ve even got your choice of two wheelcover designs!
Oh, and you have to have leather and “premium” sound to get heated seats.
The trend has been the exact opposite. For the sake of efficiency, choices have been drastically limited over time.
Too true. I remember last time I went car shopping (a while ago now) some of the Toyota’s I looked at were available in only 3-5 colours.
When I was in university, I took a few business coursea and ‘mass-customization’ was a pretty consistent theme. What happened to that?
Makes me wish I as ordering a 69 Charger (27 colours, plus a 99 paint code just in case you couldn’d live with any of the other choices).
I think the lack of choices has been due to foreign car makers becoming a major part of the market. Due to the long shipping time from overseas, it was never very practical to custom order vehicles from Japan or Europe. So, the foreign companies simply didn’t do it, and only offered a limited selection of colors and options, and it didn’t hurt sales any. Then the domestics noticed this, and in turn reduced the number of options and choices to make things more efficient (and there is a big savings in stocking only one or two colors of seat fabric, etc.). Also, these days, a lot of formerly optional items are now standard in most models. Of course, it would be nice to have more color option choices like you had in the old days, especially in interiors. Oh well.
In Europe, the list of options for a BMW is insane. The technology to offer more choices is available, but in the US market, the MBA’s have all figured out that the package deals make them more money.
We pay for stuff we don’t want, because it comes with the things we do want. We can make up our minds more quickly, and be shuffled through the deal instead of being stymied with an overload of choices. It makes the supply chain simpler. etc.
Is this woman kidding? does she think the country is asleep? google chrysler and warranty and see what happens. my dodge sucks.com. Even with less than 36,000 miles it is routine to fight warranty work according to my neighbor, a chrysler mechanic of 23 years. I used to think he was bitter or something, and then i saw “the unofficial fake new chrysler website.” was that an eye opener. “Hey, sorry the steering rack fell off at 30,000 miles. It must be your driving habits or you abused it.” And they expect the so called lifetime warranty to lure people in? Nobody has burned more people on denial of warranty claims than chrysler, not even VW. Build a decent car and stand behind it, you dont need a new gimmick every month. Sheeesh…
I’ll take a 5-door subcompact with aggressive (read: crazy) dodge styling, tight suspension, a `1.6L direct-inject turbocharged engine that makes 200bhp and gets 40mpg highway and can run on E85. I’ll take four-wheel independent suspension (double A-arms front, multilink rear) and 4-wheel disc brakes. I’ll take at most a 2500lb kerb weight with all the safety features standard.
Inside, I’ll take a well-thought out but somewhat spartan interior. I’ll gladly take quality over a bunch of dumb gimmicks like a fridge in the glovebox and speakers that fold out of the tailgate. I’ll take Recaro buckets, a good stereo with iPod integration (not just an aux-in line, thanks!), and easily visible gauges.
I’ll take it for 17 or 18 grand, too, thanks.
Get on it chrysler.
seabrjim: The only problem with websites like that is that the people who are happy with their dodges aren’t going to mydodgesucks.com.
For every anecdote like that, there’s probably another equal and opposite. There’s an old lady down the street from my parents still tooling around in her Reliant, the only car I can ever remember her owning. The thing still looks new.
In another note, I would like to know who dreamed of that strange thing in the picture for this article. Looks like somebody ate some bad pizza before bed…
picard234 In another note, I would like to know who dreamed of that strange thing in the picture for this article. Looks like somebody ate some bad pizza before bed… That's the Dodge Hornet concept car from last year. It's supposed to become the subcompact that Chrysler is working with Chery to produce.
Point taken picard 234. The reliant is obviously blessed with a little old lady. My beef is the notorious reputation chrysler has with weaseling out of warranty claims. If people have no faith with the warranty it doesnt matter if its “lifetime” or not. my last chrysler was a 69 GTX. I wouldnt even consider a chrysler product, for my personal car or work trucks.
# Frank Williams :
April 8th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
That’s the Dodge Hornet concept car from last year. It’s supposed to become the subcompact that Chrysler is working with Chery to produce.
I was just kidding. I thought that hideous looking thing was a photoshop job.
Scion to Chrysler:
“Don’t steal our ugly!”