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Looks like huge changes are in the works at Chrysler... PT Cruiser is gone, Dodge will be ONLY trucks (no Caliber? no Charger? no Viper?!?), etc... Opinions?

http://www.autosavant.net/2007/11/chrys ... anges.html

This is what all of thee manufacturers need to do.

Why have a 2 to 3 versions of every damn car out there with simply a different name on it?

Just have truck line and a car line under one name and then MAYBE a luxury line under a different name. The luxury line should NOT be simply a retouched version of the regular lineup. It needs to be significantly different.

I saw a comment, so no more Jeep pickups
thats right

No more Viper? wtf?

Just because Dodge is going to be only trucks doesn't mean that those cars are going away. It just means they're going to be under a different name now.

Nah Devin, if this were to happen, which it may not because the title of the article had that big word MAY in it, the viper would just be sold as the Chrysler Viper from what I understand from the article.

[quote=""aaronatstate""]Nah Devin, if this were to happen, which it may not because the title of the article had that big word MAY in it, the viper would just be sold as the Chrysler Viper from what I understand from the article.[/quote]

Which is what the Viper is everywhere else already. This is needed. Hopefully GM will see this and do the same.

If they do follow through with this, it would be nice if they'd offer the same car with different style packages.

Say you want an LY based car. By default it comes with the "28Y - 300C" package, but you can also purchase the "12C - Charger Kit" for this car and alter the appearance of it from a 300C to the Charger.

I prefer the Dodge car look to most of their Chrysler counterparts.

[quote=""Aerosly""]Looks like huge changes are in the works at Chrysler... PT Cruiser is gone, Dodge will be ONLY trucks (no Caliber? no Charger? no Viper?!?), etc... Opinions?

http://www.autosavant.net/2007/11/chrys ... anges.html[/quote]

I'm kind of surprised that the PT cruiser is getting cut. I guess I didn't realize that sales had slipped so much. It was a very hot selling car when I worked for a Chrysler dealership, but I guess that was was five years ago now. I guess one of the disadvantages to building a car that is so radically different (in appearances, at least) is that you are going to get to a point where you have depleted your potential buyer market. The Cruiser was a weird looking car, and that that would limit their customer base.

Dropping the Pacifica and Magnum don't surprise me at all. Since making the Hemi - its only redeeming factor - available in other vehicles, Chrysler pretty much killed any chance of success the Magnum would have. And the Pacifica was just dead on arrival. I think the Crossfire had some potential, but it was too underpowered for a sporty roadster. Chrysler didn't realize it until it had already been on the market for a while, and by the time they corrected the problem with the SRT version, the car's reputation was already ruined.


Regarding the overall restructuring plans...

While I think that limiting specific brands to certain types could be a good thing, its effectiveness will really depend on how they play it off. Chrysler uses this method to sell cars internationally; I don't know how well it works, but it isn't anything new.

Ford and GM, on the other hand, might have trouble doing this because of the sheer volume of vehicles they need to sell. In the past, GM has been criticized for having boring, bland cars. Just imagine how much worse it would be when every single mid-sized sedan is a Malibu. A little bit of differentiation isn't a bad thing, even if it is just cosmetic. Chrysler is smaller, so they may be able to pull it off the rebranding.

Also, I don't think this means that all Dodge car models are going to get cut. More likely, they will transfer the successful models to the Chrysler brand name. I believe Chrysler did this in the past with the Prowler. (???)

If the Charger keeps selling well, it is conceivable that you may see a 2010 Chrysler Charger (perhaps even next to a 300M, if they decide to keep both lines). It would be very strange to see a "Chrysler Charger" though.

The Caliber will probably get moved over to fill the low-end void left by the Cruiser.

The Durango will be gone.

The Challenger will be interesting to see. Will it get scrapped altogether? Will it be retitled using a classic Chrysler namesake? (LeBaron? BWUHAHAHAHAHA!!!) Or is it going

And the Viper? Who knows. Its not a money maker, at least not on its sales alone. But on the other hand, it was never intended to make big money - it was intended to revitalize the brand and sell cheaper cars (which share some styling cues). So if they rebrand it, maybe it can excite people about buying a Chrysler? Maybe it will be renamed altogether: "Introducing the new Chrysler Gardener Snake!" Maybe it will keep the Dodge Moniker? Or, and I hope this isn't the case, it could be discontinued to reduce costs. I can see it going any way.

Hol E Shit that was a long post.

[quote=""Hannibalzero""]"Introducing the new Chrysler Gardener Snake!"[/quote]

LMAO nice one dude

Hmmmm... Maybe with the departure of the Crossfire, the Chrysler Group will build the Deamon to take its place. Doubtful, but it would be cool as long as it has the power to match its looks.

[quote=""Jeremy C""]Which is what the Viper is everywhere else already. This is needed. Hopefully GM will see this and do the same.[/quote]

I didn't realize you could buy a GMC Car?????? GM has prolly stayed very close to this guideline.


As far as dogde goes..i think the viper will carry its own name..."VIPER"...thats just it.

[quote=""Mitsuman03""]I didn't realize you could buy a GMC Car?????? GM has prolly stayed very close to this guideline.[/quote]

Buick and Cadillac have SUVs. I believe Olds used to sell an SUV too. Chevy sells everything under the sun - from econo-shitboxes to minivans to high-performance sports cars. Chevy, GMC, and Cadillac all sold pick-ups. Saturn has a roadster, cars, and an SUV. Same with SAAB.

[quote=""Hannibalzero""]Buick and Cadillac have SUVs. I believe Olds used to sell an SUV too. Chevy sells everything under the sun - from econo-shitboxes to minivans to high-performance sports cars. Chevy, GMC, and Cadillac all sold pick-ups. Saturn has a roadster, cars, and an SUV. Same with SAAB.[/quote]

Cadillac never had a SUV/Truck line until late 99/00. Cadillac was high class cars that went to shit, and are making a big turn around...and they added the escalade in 99/00 wich was a glorified Tahoe (which the escalade does rather well, and keeps the company a float.). GMC has been and aways will be Trucks. Chevy has always been a mix of cars/trucks since the start. (y bother changing that) Buick were classy cars designed for those that could NOT afford a caddy and wanted the big space w/o the big price tag. Im not sure why exactuly saturn happend, but there dent resistent bull shit did well. No one relates saab to gm, Saab is for euro sales that GM benifits from.

[quote=""Mitsuman03""] Im not sure why exactuly saturn happend, but there dent resistent bull shit did well. No one relates saab to gm, Saab is for euro sales that GM benifits from.[/quote]

Saturn was envisioned to be a "Japan Fighter" that went horribly, horribly wrong. It has now been turned into America's Euro-inspired car company. Saab? They are for that person that absolutely positively must have something European but can't afford German. GM needs to sell it - now. Not later, but like last week. It's such a waste.

[quote=""Mitsuman03""]I didn't realize you could buy a GMC Car?????? GM has prolly stayed very close to this guideline.


As far as dogde goes..i think the viper will carry its own name..."VIPER"...thats just it.[/quote]

regarding that GMC didnt stick to their original roots. up until the mid 90s (except for the sy/ty) they were mostly a work truck line.

This isn't the case...

No immediate plans for branding changes


The Wall Street Journal report that Chrysler LLC is considering branding changes that would streamline its product offerings and eliminate hundreds of dealers is speculation, according to Chrysler spokesperson Rick Deneau. The paper reported that Chrysler dealers would sell all of the automaker's passenger cars under the Chrysler name; Dodge dealers would sell only pickup and commercial trucks, and Jeep® dealers would sell only Jeep and sport-utility vehicles. "There are no immediate plans to do this," Deneau said.

From the source.

[quote=""Caffinated Soap""]If they do follow through with this, it would be nice if they'd offer the same car with different style packages.

Say you want an LY based car. By default it comes with the "28Y - 300C" package, but you can also purchase the "12C - Charger Kit" for this car and alter the appearance of it from a 300C to the Charger.

I prefer the Dodge car look to most of their Chrysler counterparts.[/quote]

Its not exactly an LY, they went through a lot of changes over the summer, and I don't think its going to be called that anymore... however the vehicle code already looks something similar to that.

[quote=""Hannibalzero""]I'm kind of surprised that the PT cruiser is getting cut. I guess I didn't realize that sales had slipped so much. It was a very hot selling car when I worked for a Chrysler dealership, but I guess that was was five years ago now. I guess one of the disadvantages to building a car that is so radically different (in appearances, at least) is that you are going to get to a point where you have depleted your potential buyer market. The Cruiser was a weird looking car, and that that would limit their customer base.

[/quote]

The PTcruiser is a great selling retro car, but the Germans with their blitzkrieg style of marketing wanted to change everything up. Obviously wasn't a good idea, and its now the reason Chevy has the HHR.

Dropping the Pacifica and Magnum don't surprise me at all. Since making the Hemi - its only redeeming factor - available in other vehicles, Chrysler pretty much killed any chance of success the Magnum would have. And the Pacifica was just dead on arrival. I think the Crossfire had some potential, but it was too underpowered for a sporty roadster. Chrysler didn't realize it until it had already been on the market for a while, and by the time they corrected the problem with the SRT version, the car's reputation was already ruined.

They're not dropping the Pacifica, just changing it to a different chasis and making a new car. I won't go into more detail of it, but the new one looks very similar to the Pacifica but its now going to be a Dodge I believe. As for the Magnum I don't think they're going to get rid of it.

While I worked there last summer, I had access to a lot of different time lines and neither of them had them taking the Charger/300C/Magnum away.

[quote=""Hannibalzero""]Hmmmm... Maybe with the departure of the Crossfire, the Chrysler Group will build the Deamon to take its place. Doubtful, but it would be cool as long as it has the power to match its looks.[/quote]

The Crossfire was a POS German car, that Mercedes tried to pass off as a Chrysler, I'm glad they're not selling and hopefully they will make the Demon. (Which will not have been the case if the Germans were still in control).

I won't go into more detail of it, but the new one looks very similar to the Pacifica but its now going to be a Dodge I believe. As for the Magnum I don't think they're going to get rid of it.

Hopefully you're not talking about the Dodge Journey...

The Crossfire was a POS German car, that Mercedes tried to pass off as a Chrysler, I'm glad they're not selling and hopefully they will make the Demon.

The Crossfire concept was pretty sound. Make a distinctive performance coupe with a supercharged Chrysler 2.7L V6, and sell it all for about $30,000.

Ze Jahmahns take over, give us a discontinued SLK chassis with an overpriced NA Mercedes V6 for $35k, and then try to sell us a debadged AMG for $50k.

Of course it didn't sell, you arrogant morons!

I've got a lot of seat time in DarkHelmet's old NA Crossfire. I honestly feel it was a great car. The biggest problem is that it was about $10,000 too expensive. Damn Germans. They ran that company into the ground The Americans came up with some stunning designs and ideas, and the Germans completely botched the follow-through.

On the bright side, they tarnished the Mercedes star quite a bit in the process of building shoddy gimmick-laden cars that tried to be all things to all people, so hopefully it'll take them the next few years to get back on their feet.