Find Reviews by Make:
Adding to the wild uncertainty surrounding Chrysler’s situation is the revalation that Fiat may can the firm’s eponymous brand. In a piece on Chrysler’d ad budget flexibility, Automotive News [sub] paraphrases a “source close to discussions” as saying that “Fiat is already studying whether to keep the Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler brands and might well eliminate the last.” A Chrysler spokeswoman reveals that “although she herself had heard that talk, it’s premature to speculate on whether it will happen.” Chrysler executives themselves considered killing off the Chrysler brand earlier this year but finally opted to keep it.
Chrysler wrote its own death warrant when it killed Plymouth.
Chrysler is supposed to be an entry-level luxury brand, but even without Plymouth Chrysler dealers still wanted lower priced cars to sell. Thus, the de-contenting.
There’s not much left in the Chrysler nameplate to cut, listing the vehicles still for sale:
300: due for a full model changeover soon
Sebring: production on hold, will they ever restart as demand is nonexistent?
Town & Country: Chrysler’s biggest seller, almost matched all other vehicles in the lineup combined
PT Cruiser: almost out of production
Aspen: out of production
Crossfire: out of production
Pacifica: out of production
Getting rid of the T&C and not losing sales might be a challenge, even though the Grand Caravan shares the showroom. When the Plymouth Voyager got canned, IIRC the buyers just disappeared into thin air. Perhaps make the T&C the top GC trim level?
If Fiatsco keeps Chrysler around, the 300C should just be renamed “Chrysler”.
Watch Fiat get a horrible consulting team, and then kill the Jeep brand.
To be contrarian, Dodge should be axed first (though Dodge is by far the volume leader) ….as for me Dodge will always = Al Bundy, lol!
You know what’s weird – very few people know what parent company owns which brands.
I was listening to the radio talk show hosts (California) and they did not know that Dodge and Jeep were part of Chrysler. The guy actually said
“I drive a Dodge – they’re not bankrupt right?” And I also realized long ago that nobody cares about domestic brands.
I also ride a bicycle to work, so what do I know.
Wouldn’t it be cheaper to kill Chrysler, keep Dodge and Jeep, then add Fiat? At least then they wouldn’t have to redesign the cars.
I dont have much of a background in Bankruptcy, but it seem rather obvious that politics have played a rather large role in the outcome of this bankrupcty with TARP recipients being forced into the governments corner and priority lien holders getting railroaded in the process.
It is hard to say which way the court will go, but the fact that it was not initially passed on, as the vast majority of Supreme Court cases are, does not bode well for Chrysler…and thus GM as well as it would seem. Chrysler is very much the canary in the coal mine for GM’s bankrupcty. Strictly on creditor’s rights issues, Chryler could be forced back to square one.
The easy solution is of course the Federal Government getting out the checkbook and making the pension funds whole and magically, the appeal is dropped.
Someplace (great reference, huh?) I read that Sergio is really into traditional stuff in autos and would therefore keep the Chrysler brand. I personally have no idea why. Studebaker, Packard, Plymouth (ahem) among others all went away and aside from a few loyalist loons most of us have been completely unaffected.
As an Owner of a Chryser 300 I’m dissapointed. I’m gonna trade it in for the new E-class Benz 550.
I doubt Mercedes Benz will ever go under, but then again, you never know.
America has far too much competition for Chrysler, Ford and GM to coexist. GM can exist in Cadillac, Chevy, Buick and GMC but Chrysler has nothing to offer right now – even though there are Dodge, Jeep and Chrysler lovers out there.
“A Dodge is a damn fine car….ran over my first wife with a Dodge.”
— Ol’ Zeke the Prospector
YES, EXCELLENT!
Excuse the caps, but it’s something that’s been needed for far, far too long.
Chrysler has never had a purpose. They never really differentiated themselves enough from Dodge. Supposedly they were more “luxurious” than a Dodge, but I feel really silly even writing that out. Just more plastic bling.
Now if only someone could convince Ford to scrap Mercury and finally put it out of its misery.
Damn…at first glance I thought you meant the whole company, not just the brand. I suppose there’s a pretty good chance of that, too.
I think getting rid of Chrysler is the right choice. Chrysler is no longer a competitive brand in America, or anywhere. The thing is, the Chrysler brand its self is not hugely reliant on Trucks at all. All of their cars just suck! If Fiat can actually deliver good product, and perhaps even a Fiat large car (gasp!), and eliminate the shitty Chrysler and Dodge product that is clogging up the pipeline, they’re might be a glimmer of hope.
Also, I would like to report that I was “forced” into renting a Sebring in Arizona last week. I’ve driven a Chrysler before, but this thing is just, ugh, horrendous. . .and another example of driving away customers. A person (who perhaps has only ever bought imports) rents a Chrysler-Person drives Chrysler for a short period of time- Person says, “Wow, this car is a complete piece of crap, I would never spend my money on this!-Continuing the cycle.
Good riddance.
Most of Chrysler’s car’s were just re-badges of their Dodges. If anything Jeep and Dodge would be the ones to keep.
Dodge has: Their trucks, there are many people who buy the Ram trucks based on their styling, plus the Cummins powered truck is also very solid. I don’t see the Challenger ever outselling the Mustang, but at least its a nice looking car.
Jeep has: The Grand Cherokee is very popular out here, there are so many its nearly generic. The Liberty also sells pretty decently. The Wrangler has long been popular among off road fans. The compass and patriot could be axed, they really don’t fit in the Jeep brand. Jeep should not be done away with, its the brand most Americans think of when they think of offroading.
Chrysler has: The 300, its pretty popular, but its the same car as the Charger so there really is no need for it. The PT Cruiser is no longer popular, and was honestly a terrible car. There’s no need for Chrysler.
While we are talking about discontinuing brands, why doesn’t GM get rid of GMC? Every model in the GMC lineup is also in Chevy lineup. Also, is there really a need for Buick? And for Ford, what’s the point in the Mercury brand? Also just a bunch of re-badges.
@DarkSpork: retaining GMC is all about profit, it can’t be dropped. And just because a brand is dropped doesn’t mean that the customers won’t go to another carmaker – see Oldsmobile, Plymouth Voyager.
Fiat/Dodge/Jeep dealers? Bizarre.
If they survive for a few years, they can bring Chrysler back as a proper luxury brand.
Re: GMC. The brand is kept so that BPG “sales channel” dealers (Just BG now?) have trucks to sell.
Well, as a recent purchaser of a Dodge Ram 1500, I would like to see them stick around for a while. This Ram brings hope that better things are to come from them.