Chrysler's finally seen the light. After years of building versions of everything they build to sell under every brand they sell, they've canceled the Chrysler version of the Dodge Journey CUV. Co-prez Jim Press stopped by the passive construction site to explain that "resources have been deployed to basically support" development of the small car to be manufactured by Nissan. "It's a segment we are not competing in now." (What was his first clue?) Bloomberg reports that this move means Chrysler will only be introducing three new models for the 2009 model year: the Journey, the Challenger and a redesigned Ram. That leaves Chrysler looking toward the magic year 2010, when they hope to have their new compact ready to go along with new versions of the Grand Cherokee and Durango (no mention of the Aspen, though) and a redesigned Charger and 300. Will it be a case of too little, too late? We'll have to wait a couple of years to find out — if Chrysler lasts that long.
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This sort of reminds me of the Germans with their last ditch weapons developement in WW2. They had jets under developement for many years but only in the end did they cancel many of their weapon programs to concentrate on jets. Probably not enough time left. Too little too late indeed.
Geeze, it’s about time! Now one has to ask the question: What is Chrysler’s mission and how does that differ from Dodge’s position? Personally, I would have made the Journey a Chrysler. It should be noted that the pre-production model at the LA Auto Show looked and felt better than the production Journey, way to go Cerberus!
I thought this was canceled some time ago. So they shifted the badge engineers to a different program? How many people does it take to do fascias?
It’s clear to me at least that Cerberus isn’t trying to make Chrysler into an independently viable entity. Instead, they’ll try to fix it up enough that some other automaker will want to buy it. Which is a matter of cutting costs more than boosting revenues.
Michael:
What did you expect when a bunch of fund managers bought a car company? They got in this to make a profit, and the only way they can do that, besides from making good cars, is to cut Chrysler down to the bare minimum and unload it on some suckers(ie. Nissan or Tata) Over/Under on the Big 3 becoming the Big1 is 2.5 years (Just enough time for the Volt to become unplugged and Chrysler to be sold off)
I’m in a good situtation for the 2010 rebirth of everything automotive. Right now I’m selling dodge chrysler jeeps.. or at least I sit in a show room every day. I’m going full time national guard getting ready for a deployment in june so i’ll be out of the picture pretty much until the 2010 models come out. So when I get back i’ll either be getting back just as chrysler will be offering a car people really want or i’ll be looking for another job cause they’ll be gone.
HOW CAN THEY POSSIBLY SURVIVE UNTIL 2010??????????????
This move is consistent with Chrysler Group’s plans to sell cars as Chryslers, trucks as Dodges and 4WD’s as Jeeps.
That’s not a bad plan. It rids it of badge engineering, allows a more tightly focused brand message for each, and is compatible with the dealer consolidation effort.
What’s missing, of course, is the product. I still believe that their goal is to outsource as much production as possible, in order to allocate costs to their foreign partners. But they’ll underinvest in the effort and fail, so they’ll end up selling out at a loss.
Basically a good looking rear-end. I hope they are working on their quality. That is basically the reoccurring reason I won’t consider Chryslers.
On the otherhand my life with a low-rated VW hasn’t been hell so maybe it’s time to consider Chrysler, Ford and GM next time. Maybe this proves the quality surveys need to be taken with a spoonful of salt.
A good decision by Chrysler to not badge engineer a Journey twin.
Journey has had solid sales numbers thus far. I sat in one the other day, what it looks like to me is that most of the pre-production work happened under the DCX regime, and then when Press came in the interior was upgraded wherever possible.
So the result is a marked improvement over the DCX interiors, but limited in scope because there was only so much they could do. Similar situation in the Challenger.
The 2009 Ram had more time for improvements and the pics prove it. It is an encouraging trend. If they can get their interiors right, cut dead weight models, and get their dual clutch trannies and phoenix engines out there starting in 2010 with some improved models, it bodes well for the future of Chrysler, sarcasm non-withstanding.
Segment choices aside, I’m just glad to see a retreat from the badge engineering.
Chrysler as a brand can sell near-luxury cars, at least should be, like Buick, Mercury and Lincoln. The Pacifica and 300C were both better when they debuted than anything those other brands sold.
Dodge is a mainstream car and truck brand like Chevrolet. Jeep is itself, niche off-road vehicles and may shrink to it’s former niche status as fuel rises. Chrysler needs to get used to that idea.
As it is now Chrysler and Dodge overlap a little too much but that shouldn’t be hard to change with just two brands to manage.
Instead of pulling the plug on the Pacifica I really think Chrysler should have invested in redesigning it and making it more appealing. They were one of the very first to the crossover game and it was an excellent vehicle when it debuted with Chrysler’s best modern interior and rich, attractive styling. Then they cheapened it and let it whither. Big mistake.
good use of alliteration
I hope they are getting a ton of money from VW for the minivan platform cuz I don’t see why anyone would want a high cost, dealer oversaturated, bad reputation having car company with old unloved products and outdated UAW staffed assembly plants.
Funny, I thought the Dodge Journey was a re-skin of the Chrysler Pacifica.
A Wiki check says I was wrong. Not that it really matters…
The Journey is based upon the Sebring/Avenger pan. Which was co-developed with Mitsubishi just as DaimlerChrysler yanked the rug out from their “partner”. Mitsubishi, instead of filing suit for domestic partner abuse, ran home to mom & dad (Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Mitsubishi Bank) who are tending to junior even now.
Interesting how the Chrysler versions of this platform ended up to be such drek, and how Mitsubishi’s Lancer seems to be such a nice car, isn’t it?
Kizmet (aka karma) at work. You’ve gotta love it.
Menno,
Good summary of the Journey’s parentage. Remember that the Outlander is also built off the same platform, and is comparable to the Journey.
In my view, the fact that the ‘Bishi vehicles are so much better than Chrysler’s is less about karma and more about a willingness to sweat the details.
My boss has a Dodge Journey SXT as a rental car, and I got to ride in it yesterday. I was surprised by what a quiet vehicle it was, and it also rode quite well. The interior was not as bad as I was expecting, except of course for the gauge cluster. I still don’t know what they were smoking when they designed that. Looked like it was straight out of a 80’s dodge shadow.
Pch101: “This move is consistent with Chrysler Group’s plans to sell cars as Chryslers, trucks as Dodges and 4WD’s as Jeeps.”Imagine if Plymouth was still around. It would would have been a whole lot easier with Chrysler having the high-end car models and Plymouth with the medium and entry level cars.
Instead, with Plymouth long gone, Chrysler has to further dilute the status of what used to be their premium marque to maintain profitability.
Here’s a crazy concept: take Chrysler UPMARKET. Why do Chryslers have to be rebadged Dodges at almost the same price? Design a kick ass RWD platform and make a bunch of different Chryslers out of it, gee, like Infiniti does? Then Dodge can be fwd cars, trucks at an affordable price like Chevy, but with an edge. Dodge can have 4×4 crossovers and leave the real off road stuff to Jeep. Jeep needs to ditch the Patriot and Compass and stretch upwards towards Land Rover. Not that they need a an $80k Jeep, but a full luxury with full Jeep offroad DNA would sell.