Chrysler’s rolling punchline may have received the least-deserved stay of execution in automotive history, as Automotive News [sub] reports that the Sebring/Avenger duo may not die until “late 2012.” The gruesome twosome were supposed to be put out to pasture by the end of next year under plans made when Chrysler was owned by Cerberus Capital Management. Instead it appears they’ll be receiving facelifts and soldiering on. The Avenger will be freshened first in what is rumored to be the milder of the two reskins. The Sebring will receive a more thorough going-over with the new look set to be debuted in 2011. In the meantime, Chrysler hopes you’ve noticed that new Sebrings are missing their unnecessarily frumpy hood strakes. Don’t count on any of this making a difference though. Chrysler’s products should continue to be backmarkers for at least another two years, with only Grand Cherokee/Durango and 300/Charger redesigns bringing anything new to a table otherwise set with microwaved leftovers. Someday there will be Fiats and Alfas to choose from. In the meantime, lazy auto journalists looking for a cheap shot will keep getting by on a ‘bring and a prayer.
Ironic that the prior generation Sebring is manufactured as a Volga in what used to be a communist country turned (sort of) capitalist, while the current generation Sebring will soldier on in a country which was once (sort of) capitalist.
The 200C concept Chrysler showed off is gorgeous. How hard would it be to scale its sheetmetal to fit the Sebring’s platform? (Answering myself: Maybe, for Chrysler, too hard?)
Fiat needs cash flow and a US product lineup, fast. This is a relatively cheap and fast way of generating it in the short term.
If this is an interim move meant to fill the gap until better vehicles are developed, then it’s a good idea. If it is the only card left to play, then it’s something much worse.
james2:
I agree about the 200C, it’s a beautiful design. However, if they took that exterior and dropped one of those Lego interiors into it they’re wasting their time.
They have the exterior design and the engine down for a new model, but they need a good interior to go along with it.
Interestingly, here in a state with minimal auto exhaust pollution concerns whenever I see visible smoke exiting the exhaust system it is pert’ near always a Chrysler Corp. vehicle.
Exceptions are much older heaps when any make or model can be a spewer.
It is the later-model vehicles still pretty on the outside but percolating visible pollutants from its innards that are almost always a ChryCo chariot of the horselss variety.
Weird.
The Hyundai Sonata came out at the same time as the Sebring, and it blew the Sebring away. I testdrove both at that time. My biggest gripe about the Sebring was that its 4-cylinder engine seemed to be attached to its 4-speed automatic through the elastic from a pair of Sans-a-belt slacks. In contrast, the Sonata just worked, there was nothing flashy, just basic competence.
Over time, the Sebring fell farther behind. The Sonata went through a midcycle refresh a couple years ago when the Sebring did not. This year, Hyundai has a brand new generation model Sonata coming out with a direct-injected version of the “world engine” originally developed in partnership with Chrysler. Since the press release a week or two ago that Chrysler would be dropping the world engine, we might infer that th Chrysler will not be getting the DI version.
Good luck, Chrysler matching your old-world engine and 4-speed automatic against the Sonata’s new-world engine and 5 or 6 speed automatic.
There are cars we love but don’t like (usually they’re made in Maranello) there are cars we like but don’t love (usually made in Japan or Korea) and then there are cars that are banal (typically those concieved in Auburn Hills and whelped in Sterling Heights). Sebring, ye are neither hot nor cold.
The question is how long Fiat is willing to prop up the money-pit Chrysler has become until they can come up with a product line-up that is even remotely viable in the marketplace.
I don’t see how the ‘gruesome twosome’ are going to cut it for another year, much less three. The Sebring and Avenger couldn’t have been worse if they had called them Volaré and Aspen. Frankly, I suspect Fiat is just letting the current ‘real’ Chrysler models ride off into the sunset, to be eventually replaced by small Fiats that are Chryslers only in name.
Here at TTAC we all love badmouthing these two hunks of junk (God knows I do). But, we are missing the trees for the forest.
Someone is actually buying these things….!
True, it’s no one that you or I know, but they’re out there, somewhere.
We need to find some of these people and see just exactly what the thought process was. It would be fascinating. For posterity’s sake.
Honestly, at what price point would any of you consider buying one of these things? I can’t answer that question, because regardless of the price, I would see the money I once had, and the POS sitting outside (not in MY garage), and I would get sick to my stomach.
Just the same, I think back to the Iacocca days, when he rolled out the Omni/Horizon America editions. They could be had for a song and frankly, weren’t THAT bad. They weren’t great. But in 88, my parents bought one and continued to put nearly 100K on it. I then took over the helm and put on another 20K before the car rusted out from under me. Not a surprising outcome for a Chrysler product (the rust, anyway).
So could they put out a Sebring America edition? Fire sale it out at $8900? Would any of you consider it? I’m not sure I would.
I’m sandwiched here in Metro Detroit between Avengers and Sebrings.
Make the pain stop!
More than a restyling, the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger need improved reliability and durability.
“In the meantime, lazy auto journalists looking for a cheap shot will keep getting by on a ‘bring and a prayer.”
These would be the same auto journalists who never EVER write a bad review about a car? Who always manage to find something positive to say about even the worst pile of crap from the press fleet so long as it keeps them on the gravy train?
I imagine the primary reason for buying Sebrings or Avengers at this point is transaction price. I’ve had friends wondering if it was worth picking up a Chrysler or GM vehicle just to take advantage of fire-sale pricing. I’ve had three different sets of friends say to me this year, “I know none of these are really good cars, but what about at 40% off sticker?”
I have a neighbor who has a sebring convertible. She loves it. It is her fun car. She does not autocross, drive hard or fast, and is not an “enthusiast”.
Do I tell her she’s wrong ? Nope.
Lots of folks are not car geeks. Witness the Camry Solara, same POS as the sebring, but with Toyota build quality.
Lots of folks are not car geeks. Witness the Camry Solara, same POS as the sebring, but with Toyota build quality.
That’s a heckuva “but” there.
Am I the only person here who thinks that when 2012 comes around, Chrysler will be gone, and the Mayan calendar will have nothing to do with it.
On the other hand, they might be able to sell a few of these things by painting Mayan calendars on them …
They really had no choice. Chrysler can’t simply exit the largest segment of the car market, and it takes time to design a better product.
One of the reported problems at Chrsyler right now is that over the past year or so they fired way too many white collar guys and gals. You know, the ones who can actually create the next product!
Word is that the Sebring replacement will be loosely based on a Fiat platform, but a whole lot of work needs to be done:
“The issue is further complicated because engineers and designers at Chrysler’s Auburn Hills headquarters likely would be assigned to Americanizing the exterior and interior of cars, even though the new midsize would have a Fiat frame, suspension, engine and transmission. But Chrysler’s 25 percent cut in salaried employees last year has left it with too few engineers and designers to get the work done on multiple models, said a person with knowledge of the company’s plans who requested anonymity because the strategy hasn’t been made public.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Chrysler-trying-to-refit-apf-1958405183.html?x=0&.v=5
We need to find some of these people and see just exactly what the thought process was. It would be fascinating. For posterity’s sake.
A friend got a Dodge Avenger about a year ago. His logic was as follows:
1. It was cheap.
2. He was buying an appliance and didn’t care (the classic CJ-5 gets his extra money).
Also, for someone who hasn’t bought a new car in a decade–and who might very well have bought a Chrysler product last time around–the Sebring/Avenger might seem a fine and quite reliable appliance. Expectations mean a lot.
It seems to me that an extremely quick, low-budget facelift (headlight and taillight forms, that smooth hood, getting rid of the black paint on the C pillar, maybe some revision to side trim) makes more sense than a more extensive overhaul. Fiat needs to show changes and shore up sales now, not in 2011. And why do a major 2011 facelift on a car that will be scrapped in 2012?
Of course, we won’t really know what Fiat is planning until November. Even then there may be some deliberate smoke-blowing.
We need to find some of these people and see just exactly what the thought process was. It would be fascinating. For posterity’s sake.
It’s actually quite surprising/baffling/terrifying to tell the truth. I know a person that did not buy one of the Chrysis POS twins, but this person did get something that would raise an eyebrow. I won’t name names as I might get in trouble if someone I knew were to read this.
In any event, a lot of times it goes like this:
1) They hate the car buying experience.
2) When they have to buy a car, they drive into the nearest stealership and get episode over with as quickly a possible.
That’s it. No shopping around. “Don’t not pass go”. Nothing. The end, roll credits. Wouldn’t even wait until the weekend for someone knowledgeable to go with them. Amazing.
What bothered me most about the “new” Sebring was the waste of its potential. I kinda wanted one. There really was not a mid priced, practical four seat open air cruiser to buy. The Toyota Solara had it, but you had to get past its funky bad looks and foreign high price.
I lost respect for the Sebring convertible, not because of what it was, but because of what it could have been. I was hoping they would lengthen the hood line. It was front wheel drive and looked it. As it was, only a mother could love the look and it was best suited to female real estate agents. The cab forward design style that continued with the previous re-fresh made it look – under endowed.
Then came the most recent body re-style, which following all the fabulous exterior designs of other Chryslers, was a derivative after pen. It also suffered from the same poor interior material feel and ergonomics that hamstrung the Nitro.
I do not want to see this car discontinued. I want a comfortable open air cruiser that doubles as a family sedan and there still isn’t much to choose from.
I had an Avenger as a loaner – worst car I’ve ever driven – absolutely shameful in every way.