Chrysler is expected to unveil its 5-year plan next week on November 4th, but the Wall Street Journal has revealed many of the details we can expect to hear next week.
The plan is calling for the end of many of the Chrysler models that are currently in US showrooms. Many of the models will be replaced by vehicles from Fiat and Alfa Romeo.
Expect more details next week, but for now here's a list of what models we can expect to see either die or survive...
Chrysler
* PT Cruiser (Dead)
* Sebring (Dead)
* Town and Country
* 300: Redesign in 2011
* Fiat 500: 2011
Dodge
* Caliber (Dead)
* Nitro (Dead)
* Avenger (Dead)
* Grand Caravan (Dead)
* Charger: Redesign in 2011
* Challenger
* Journey
* Ram trucks
Jeep
* Commander (Dead)
* Compass (Dead)
* Patriot (Dead)
* Wrangler
* Grand Cherokee: Redesign in 2010
Alfa Romeo
* MiTo
* Milano (replacing 147)
* Unknown Mid-Size Sedan
Full Story: WSJ via KickingTires
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Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger to Live on Until Late 2012
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Comments (23)
When can we get Renault over in the states? I'd love to have a Clio Sport/Cup...
Posted by Brian | October 28, 2009 9:07 AM
Posted on October 28, 2009 09:07
No Brian, Renualt is more like a paper tiger... the real driving feeling is not as good as German or Italian.
Posted by JoeW | October 28, 2009 9:31 AM
Posted on October 28, 2009 09:31
Agree with the list. It's about time.
Posted by topper | October 28, 2009 10:50 AM
Posted on October 28, 2009 10:50
I gotta say, tongue in cheek, that for a lot of red blooded American males, the idea that Fiat (of 'Fix It Again Tony' fame) would look at Chryslers lineup and declare most of them dead speaks VOLUMES.
Posted by kw | October 28, 2009 11:37 AM
Posted on October 28, 2009 11:37
This is a good idea. Some one needed the balls to prune all the crap out of Chrysler. There are no sacred cows. I expect the plan to be fine tuned, but anything less than a major reinvention will doom Chrysler. Their products are horrible for the most part...especially as GM and Forf roll out their new and significantly better models. Fiat at least has some style, and, apparently, some balls. And I would like to see some of the more inovative Fiats here in the US.
Posted by Victor | October 28, 2009 12:46 PM
Posted on October 28, 2009 12:46
Hmm...wonder what will happen to the Jeep Liberty? Hopefully Fiat will keep it and give it a diesel once again.
Posted by azmtbkr81 | October 28, 2009 12:54 PM
Posted on October 28, 2009 12:54
While I agree with the culling of much of the product line, I do have one nagging question. Why keep the Chrysler name/brand? Jeep I can see as it still has a strong fanbase and identity. But Chrysler is essentially warmed over Dodge vehicles and a 2 model line does not make a strong brand (re:Mercury).
Posted by longdxcommuter | October 28, 2009 1:06 PM
Posted on October 28, 2009 13:06
good and bad....good because most of those models going away are junk anyway, bad because idk if americans will accept the styling of alfa romeo or fiat because they are both pretty strange looking. and the alfa romeo milano....maybe a name change since thats so similar to the mercury milan?
@longdxcommuter
the reason they are keeping the chrysler brand is because they want to make it more lunxury, they said they plan to make it in the class of cadillac, which i guess we can wait and see how that turns out.....
Posted by Phil | October 28, 2009 2:14 PM
Posted on October 28, 2009 14:14
Good luck Fiat. Can you kill something that's already dead?
Chrysler is like a crazy, old, burned out whore. Lee Iacoca reached in with his pimp hand 25 years ago and slapped that bitch into shape for a while.
Now she's being sold around town to different pimps. None able to keep control of the desperate old strumpet for long.
Good luck cracking into Caddy territory too. They will be trying to sell new platform higher end cars, in an already crowded market, to people who most likely never owned a Chrysler product.
The 300 is quasi-luxury, no idea why Mopar didn't run with it whole hog in the first place. But I'm guessing the 300 owners might be the ones to 1'st consider a Chrysler luxury brand.
Posted by Trooper Bri | October 28, 2009 4:13 PM
Posted on October 28, 2009 16:13
Journey? Did they just forget about this one, cause this one will be another flop to.
Posted by SteelCity1981 | October 28, 2009 4:44 PM
Posted on October 28, 2009 16:44
RIP Dodge cars. All those boxy "I wish I was an SUV" cars had to go. Like for real. It will be nice to get some of the more appropriately car-looking cars back on the lots. I guess I cannot speak for the reliability of Alfa's and Fiat's (though it seems some of you can, and are less than impressed,) I will hold out some hope that they can bring some nice small cars to market.
Posted by Jimb | October 29, 2009 7:25 AM
Posted on October 29, 2009 07:25
FIAT isn't know for quality. Maybe for passion and certainly for low cost, but not quality. It improved a bit from the abysmal 90s but they're still in the bottom of reliability reports. Then again, that's where Chrysler is most of the time ... so, a match made in "heaven".
Kidding aside, I agree with the obsolete models in the list, but FIAT needs to be very careful to not come in as a victor. Their financials aren't great either and they don't have technical competency nor image to turn any company around just by associating their name with it.
Just my 2c.
Posted by Tom | October 29, 2009 10:27 AM
Posted on October 29, 2009 10:27
So what about the Viper?
Posted by 426Hemi | October 29, 2009 4:21 PM
Posted on October 29, 2009 16:21
Lol, "So what about the viper?"
Exactly, so what. They could kill the car and still sell about the same number of them. Never seen one on the street, ever. Failed car. Lacks the sophistication it needs in that price range. Muscle alone is not enough.
Posted by Victor | October 30, 2009 7:10 AM
Posted on October 30, 2009 07:10
@Victor:
That's funny that unsophisticated car holds a record at the ring that only very production can come within 20 seconds of. The Viper is a halo car and as such they don't have to sell many. While I see Vipers all the time on the road I rarely see a GT-R talk about failures...
Posted by RX-7 Guy | October 30, 2009 9:06 AM
Posted on October 30, 2009 09:06
@ RX-7 Guy
Lol, you are so fibbing when you say "...I see Vipers all the time on the road..", unless its the one you are driving. Where on the planet would that be where all these Vipers are driving around? They have not sold that many that this could even possibly be true. The only one I have ever seen was at a car show.
As a halo car it is perfect for Chrysler - like most of its cars it is seriously flawed. Like almost everything Chrysler has done, it is only a partially executed car that fails to be best in class by a wide margin. Its relevance to Fiat/Chrysler, as a business, is zero, therefore it is probably dead. Expect the one they have in stock to be liquidated any moment. (Just kidding.)
Posted by Victor | October 30, 2009 10:56 AM
Posted on October 30, 2009 10:56
@Victor
And yet the Viper is one of the few cars making a profit.
Posted by 426Hemi | October 30, 2009 1:09 PM
Posted on October 30, 2009 13:09
@RX-7 Guy
I live in Miami and I see much more GT-Rs than I do the Vipers. Btw, many many more magazines sing the praises of the GT-R than do they the Viper. Not that the Viper is a bad car because it is not - its a monster - but its a fact.
Posted by vtfo0lio | October 30, 2009 6:17 PM
Posted on October 30, 2009 18:17
Of course the Viper makes a profit, it's a truck-engined dinosaur they can sell for $80k.
Posted by mlkmnz | October 31, 2009 2:54 AM
Posted on October 31, 2009 02:54
@mikmnz
And it kicks the crap out of cars $100k and up. (The GT-R V Spec is one of them.)
Posted by 426Hemi | November 1, 2009 7:54 AM
Posted on November 1, 2009 07:54
the viper has sold to new company
Posted by just123 | November 1, 2009 9:09 PM
Posted on November 1, 2009 21:09
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
Posted by 426Hemi | November 2, 2009 7:59 AM
Posted on November 2, 2009 07:59
The Viper has NOT been sold, it was up for sale, but Chrysler removed it from the table earlier this year, and it was the 1st production plant of Chrysler's to be back online. Do some research before you go stating falsehoods about the Viper being sold.
Posted by knight3058 | November 2, 2009 12:11 PM
Posted on November 2, 2009 12:11