The Day After: Automotive News Has Complete Coverage Of The New Chrysler

[Bravada]

I'd like to see proof that Minivan customers aren't badge fanatics.

Chrysler phased out the Plymouth and didn't lose the leading position in the market. The Freestar-based Monterey sold nowhere near as good as the Quest-based Villager. People are just looking for a good minivan, not a particular brand. And in case of Chrysler, they would still have another minivan on the same floor - THOUGH this is NOT happening, as both minivans stay.

If anything, the Hemi might be slowly replaced with a Turbo / Twin turbo varient of the Penastar V6.

Hemi stays, the 6.1 becomes a 6.4.

GM has the best engineering in the auto business.

It would be great if we could ever see a proof...

Has anyone read this weeks Autoextremist? Delorenzo clearly wasn't impressed with Sergio and the Chrysler gang.

He announced he won't be impressed at all days before, so even if they had him to a 6-your Kylie Mingoue variety show he would have still posted the same stuff. His comments were so devoid of content he could've posted it about just about anything else. I still don't what his problem is with the plan, other that he doesn't like PowerPoint and lenghty presentations. If so, why go there - he could have given his place to somebody else.

I, for one, found the presentations to be majorly informative and the plan to be very coherent, in contrast to many "wishful thinking" presentations and "business plans" by other automakers.

I don't see how Chrysler is going to pull this off. They need billions upon billions of dollars in capital improvements to their factories and we have not seen a single mule or development car for a very long time out of Chrysler. They didn't even show a single new vehicle they're developing. They're also high on drugs to think they can get 13% share in 5 years. The market's too competitive to allow big point swings in retail share nowadays.

If you'd look at the presentations, they are currently eliminating actual prototype/mule builds until the very late stage of development (which is the natural thing to do given modern CAD/CAM systems capabilities, but automakers still prefer to do it the "old way" by and large). Secondly, there indeed was precious little in the pipeline, so there is little to drive around Auburn Hills.

Finally, the next all-new launches, the LX cars, were handed over to Fiat engineering for the time being as Chrysler didn't have enough manpower to complete the development on time including the emergency removal of Mercedes parts. In a suprise twist of fate, Chrysler is now engineering the NA Fiat 500 (and massive amount of vehicle updates, most of which concern interiors, so you won't be seeing them so obviously either), while Fiat does future Chryslers. And Fiat incurs the costs thereof, so even with no outright investment, Fiat does indeed support Chrysler financially.

[benroethig]

Originally Posted by CamaroAMX

The ram brand of trucks gives me cause for alarm, as well as jeep to get fiat platforms by 2013 (good-bye wrangler). I'm not sure on the whole "chrysler on the outside, fiat underneath" idea (bye-bye charger, challenger).
I'm guessing the once great chrysler of old will now be the fiat of tommorow, the badged fiat untill fiat gets a foothold in the US and the bye-bye chrysler. I don't see myself ever buying a chrysler vehicle after 2013, unless its a used old chrysler (dodge, jeep, plymouth). The only Chrysler Group vehicles I'd even consider now are the challenger and charger, when their gone and are replaced by rebadged Fiats, I'll be uniterested in any Chrysler vehicle.

I don't think that's what you'll see. Sergio isn't your typical "we have all the answers you'll like what we like" European. In fact, he actually considers himself Canadian.

[staspeterson]

Originally Posted by Burnout Czar

Has anyone read this weeks Autoextremist? Delorenzo clearly wasn't impressed with Sergio and the Chrysler gang. Sure they have this ambitious plan which will be extremely tough to pull in 5 years, but what about now? Chrysler has nothing anyone class leading, just class lagging. Sure you can give Chryslers & Dodges away until 2014 to maybe keep the doors open but who is going to want to buy from a car company whose future is marginal at best. However with that said I think they'll survive, although certainly not thrive. I hope GM can raid what's left of Chrysler's cupboards and steel their market share.

I like the AutoExtremist. But he thinks that advertisng is what sells cars and nothing else; just like that Cogate-Polmolive soap-saleman at GM a few years ago. He's glib but wrong here. Competitively engineered cars sell.

Marchione is pinching pennies enough to be breaking even TODAY, and actually building cash in this dreadful market with the half-engineered products Chrysler has been forced to sell. If he can do that, I think Marchione will bring Chrysler back from the brink.

Avenger II and Sebring II, MCEs which Marchione is promising for mid 2010 introduction, but with completed engineering, appear to be what they should have been from the start. The debuted with noisy, underpowered drivetrains, peak HP amped to cover poor transmissions, with lousy, ill-suited transmissions, and with lousy interiors. What they needed were relaxed cam profiles, like Hyundai's version of that identical engine, flat torque, but still higher HP I4s, mated to a real 6-speed dual clutch transmisssion, instead of those Jatco sewing machine CVTS, along with better interiors. Now they will have them. Finally!

Those new interiors, a mild external re-design, (No Strakes!), a thoroughly upgraded interior, and the new promised drivetrains could transform those critical cars. VVL Multiair, and DI, added to DOHC, 4valve, VVT engines mated to the transmissions that they were designed for, until Chrysler ran out of money and had to hurriedly substitute the Jatco noise generators, made for some half baked, half engineered, half-assed cars.

Remember how the Malibu and Fusion were transformed in their MCEs? These new offerings will be even more stark in their improvements. Class leading I don't know, but at least in the middle of the competitive game.

I take it as a given that the new 300C, Grand Cherokee, and Charger will be fine cars. Who else has RWD, let alone now current generation Mercedes-Benz quality RWD platforms, among the Detroit three, or Honda, and Toyota for that matter? And not at German megabuck prices, either. Chrysler was promising 28 mpg highway to the Feds, for these cars.

Marchione is promising to MCE the Minivans in 2010 too. The new Pentastar V6s and those dual clutch automatics, along with the handling tweaks that went into the Routans, will return them to the top of the Minivan heap. Toss in a FIAT Diesel to get them over 30 mpg too. That is a market they hold alone as the Odysey has run into recall and reliability problems; and everyone else has quit the field leaving 300 to 500 thousand annual sales to Chrysler.