Chrysler dead?

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CodeRedR51

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https://www.carscoops.com/2018/05/chrysler-chopping-block/

All eyes on are Fiat Chrysler Automobiles as CEO Sergio Marchionne will present the company’s future product roadmap on June 1st.

We’ve already heard countless rumors about what could be announced but Automotive News is hinting at something unthinkable: killing off Chrysler. While nothing is official, the publication says “A source told a European colleague that such an announcement could come Friday.”
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Well they only have two cars. One of which is in dire need of a replacement. But then the question becomes, what will FCA call themselves after?
 
First Ford stops producing cars.

Then Chrysler is phased out.

What's next... Camaro becomes FWD?

My word, what has the American auto industry come to.
 
Fiat is probably gone too. It sells what? A 500 that hasn't been changed in over 10 years and is based on architecture from the early 2000's and that Miata but not a Miata car? Oh, I guess those bloated crossover things too.

Really FCA is probably going to downsize as much as it can so it can pump money into Jeep and into overpowered cars that people think are cool, but don't actually buy.
 
Joey D
Fiat is probably gone too. It sells what? A 500 that hasn't been changed in over 10 years and is based on architecture from the early 2000's and that Miata but not a Miata car? Oh, I guess those bloated crossover things too.

Really FCA is probably going to downsize as much as it can so it can pump money into Jeep and into overpowered cars that people think are cool, but don't actually buy.
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Fiat has 9 models with several versions in Europe and are a major force in less developed countries.
 
Ford is dropping all their North American passenger cars and now Chrysler might be dead? This is unfortunate. Though given that they only have the 300 (Which could just be replaced with a luxury trimmed Charger if they really wanted to) and the Pacifica (Which could replace the ancient Grand Caravan), it wouldn't be too hard. How to Pacifica sales compare to the Grand Caravan anyway? Looks like FCA's five year plan didn't really pan out. I would liked to have seen the planned Dart SRT but that's never happening given that the Dart was killed off before they planned to make the SRT.

Eunos_Cosmo
I didn't realize that Dodge only makes the Charger & Challenger...I guess it's been that way for a while?
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And the Durango.
 
Naveek Darkroom
Ford is dropping all their North American passenger cars and now Chrysler might be dead? This is unfortunate. Though given that they only have the 300 (Which could just be replaced with a luxury trimmed Charger if they really wanted to) and the Pacifica (Which could replace the ancient Grand Caravan), it wouldn't be too hard. How to Pacifica sales compare to the Grand Caravan anyway? Looks like FCA's five year plan didn't really pan out. I would liked to have seen the planned Dart SRT but that's never happening given that the Dart was killed off before they planned to make the SRT.


And the Durango.
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Well I meant in terms of cars.

The 300, Charger, and Challenger are all on W211 E-class platform, if I'm not mistaken, dating all the way back to 2003. But the W211 itself was an evolution of the W210 which development began in 1988. That is foxbody-levels of zombie engineering. :lol:
 
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I would hate to see Chrysler end up this way, they would need a huge amount of investment with a brand new range to bring them back to life but as most other auto companies are equally struggling at the moment no one is looking to plough that kind of money in, including Fiat. Jeep does pretty well here for the novelty value but Chrysler never managed to take off despite the partnership with Mercedes.

This advert comes to mind, please don't die Chrysler :(

 
Robin
I would hate to see Chrysler end up this way, they would need a huge amount of investment with a brand new range to bring them back to life but as most other auto companies are equally struggling at the moment no one is looking to plough that kind of money in, including Fiat. Jeep does pretty well here for the novelty value but Chrysler never managed to take off despite the partnership with Mercedes.

This advert comes to mind, please don't die Chrysler :(

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Except unlike that ad, Detroit is and probably will always be dead.
 
According to MSN, Chrysler could officially be dead on Friday, June 1.
 
JC_Dude
Fiat has 9 models with several versions in Europe and are a major force in less developed countries.
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Others have already mentioned that the US situation is different so I won't repeat it directly, but Fiat still makes me sad these days.

I grew up with 1990s Fiat, when they made some of the best cars in their respective classes. Cinquecento? Like a Mini, but not four decades old. Punto? Stylish, spacious and blessed with a couple of fun performance models (the Sporting and the HGT). The Tipo was up there as a class-leader and the Bravo/Brava that followed weren't far off until Ford and VW really pulled their fingers out with the Focus and Mk4 Golf. The Coupe was a consistent magazine test winner, the Barchetta was pretty and affordable, and even the Multipla, which I accept is an acquired taste, was the best car in its class.

Today? The 500 and Panda are both essentially good cars (the Panda Cross is good fun to drive and looks fantastic) and the 124 is obviously a decent car, but the rest of the range? Two fairly ugly 500-branded crossovers, the L and the X, the absolutely ancient Punto and uncompetitive Tipo, and a bunch of vans.

Don't get me started on the slow and painful death of Lancia - mishandled to the same degree as Chrysler has been (I haven't missed the irony that these two brands had several shared models a few years back).

It annoys me that Fiat is absolutely capable of making great cars (the Panda) and leveraging great brands (Jeep) but seems incapable of spreading that talent across a range of vehicles and a portfolio of companies right now.
 
Yeah, because killing one of your halo brands was going to go over well with not only the unionized workforce, but also the thousands of dealers across Canada and the US. That's why I never believed those rumors.

Though I wonder how the public that does buy Chargers would be receptive to the Charger based on the Giulia underpinnings.
 
Silver Arrows
Though I wonder how the public that does buy Chargers would be receptive to the Charger based on the Giulia underpinnings.
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The article above suggests they won't be. It'd certainly be interesting, but I suspect that platform hasn't been designed with V8 engines in mind for a start, and possibly not cars larger than the Giulia/Stelvio itself - as far as I'm aware, the next Giorgio platform car (GTV mentioned in the other thread aside) will be the next Giulietta, so smaller rather than larger.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
Well I meant in terms of cars.

The 300, Charger, and Challenger are all on W211 E-class platform, if I'm not mistaken, dating all the way back to 2003. But the W211 itself was an evolution of the W210 which development began in 1988. That is foxbody-levels of zombie engineering. :lol:
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This isn't really the case, also I don't understand how that would be zombie engineering. There is plenty of designs and manufacturing that have traversed decades and yet people don't seem to find them bad. Though I'd say the car is in good shape considering it sales consistently each year. However, it doesn't make the numbers the Fusion did nor do many in this segment, which makes it all the more curious why Ford gave up on it.

Also interesting to see a certain person liking these posts who typically has had bias against American car production.
 
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LMSCorvetteGT2
This isn't really the case, also I don't understand how that would be zombie engineering. There is plenty of designs and manufacturing that have traversed decades and yet people don't seem to find them bad. Though I'd say the car is in good shape considering it sales consistently each year. However, it doesn't make the numbers the Fusion did nor do many in this segment, which makes it all the more curious why Ford gave up on it.

Also interesting to see a certain person liking these posts who typically has had bias against American car production.
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What do you mean it isn't really the case?

I don't think they are bad cars at all, nor did I imply that. I'm not a fan of how big (at least in the Challenger's case) they are nor the general design of the interiors, but I think they are pretty nice. I've mentioned elsewhere how much I like the 300.
 
Eunos_Cosmo
What do you mean it isn't really the case?

I don't think they are bad cars at all, nor did I imply that. I'm not a fan of how big (at least in the Challenger's case) they are nor the general design of the interiors, but I think they are pretty nice. I've mentioned elsewhere how much I like the 300.
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Meaning there Mercedes underpinnings weren't something that are still there as if directly applied when the car first came about.
 
LMSCorvetteGT2
Meaning there Mercedes underpinnings weren't something that are still there as if directly applied when the car first came about.
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Researching it more (1, 2, 3) ...it appears that the LX platform was not really based on the W211 afterall...more like there were components shared between the W211 (and W220) and the LX. I wonder why all the magazines at the time claimed that it was essentially a Mercedes platform?

So I stand corrected. I wonder how much those early facelifted 300s are selling for these days....
 
Eunos_Cosmo
Researching it more (1, 2, 3) ...it appears that the LX platform was not really based on the W211 afterall...more like there were components shared between the W211 (and W220) and the LX. I wonder why all the magazines at the time claimed that it was essentially a Mercedes platform?

So I stand corrected. I wonder how much those early facelifted 300s are selling for these days....
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I'd say kelly blue book it to find out on the 300s. As I said in my previous quotes, they could have said this because there was a time it was directly related and they were of the misnomer that Chrysler didn't actually try to spend money and update their line up. But that seems pretty far from reality especially when you see how much the ram was updated over that same time period.

Or simply the magazines you saw that in were from an early date than you thought.
 
It was the same as the idea that the LH cars used the underpinnings of the Eagle Premier, or the previous generation Grand Cherokee versus the M-Class. It was the design benchmark and a lot of the same people who made the earlier car had hands in the other, but it was the jumping off point that they worked from rather than the basis for the actual mechanicals therein (though the odd transmission, interior switchgear and electronics were shared). The current Grand Cherokee, Durango and M-Class are much closer to each other in comparison.
 
What happened to marques like Dodge producing 'normal' saloons and compacts like the Neon, Stratus, Monaco and Intrepid? The last not-a-sports-car I recall Dodge making is the Dart. And Chrysler, even if I admit not really seeing much differentiation between the two marques in the past, used to have conventional models like the Sebring, 300M and 300C. And I'm not saying those were good cars but they were at least a measure of a company with a wide model portfolio.

Ever since the fifth gen Mustang came out in 2005 the big three, Chrysler especially, seem to be reliant on their retraux muscle cars and on "horsepower war" special editions in the last five years in particular.
 

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