Chrysler To Show Off Its New HALCYON Concept, Next Week

How many times have we heard that the Chrysler brand is reinventing itself once again? The brand, which once stood for “blue-collar luxury,” continues to try to find its place in today’s automotive world. It wasn’t long ago that Chrysler had a full portfolio of vehicles ranging from the compact PT Cruiser to the seven-passenger Chrysler Aspen, but now relies on a single vehicle, the Chrysler Pacifica.

Since 2009, the Chrysler brand has struggled to find itself. The Chrysler Design Studio has come up with several production-worthy concepts that seem to be taken well into the development stages only to be scrapped for another idea.

We saw this with the 2009 Chrysler 200C EV Concept, a midsize sedan that not only looked sharp but was one of the most loved concepts of the modern Mopar era. It was followed up by the quietly released Chrysler 700C Concept minivan, which was awkward in its exterior styling, but had many of its interior concept ideas reworked into what we now know as the Chrysler Pacifica in 2016.

Chrysler then showed the 2017 Chrysler Portal Concept, a mini minivan that was edgy and futuristic for millennials. That vehicle was the center point of a Netflix documentary highlighting Head of Design, Ralph Gilles; however, the concept never evolved after being introduced.

Then after the pandemic, Chrysler announced that it would transform itself into an all-electric brand to take on the likes of Tesla. At the forefront of this move was the sleek and stylish Chrysler Airflow Concept. After being teased as nothing more than a technology demonstrator at the 2021 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, Chrysler followed up by showing off the original Airflow Concept, a five-passenger crossover based on the STLA Large architecture. The vehicle was set to debut in 2025 and would be the vehicle to launch several new self-driving, infotainment, and safety technologies.

The Airflow was highlighted during the newly formed Stellantis’ EV Day 2021 event and was shown alongside CEO Carlos Tavares at several presentations. A few months later at the 2022 New York International Auto Show (NYIAS), we were treated to a second version of the Airflow, called the Airflow Graphite Concept. The Graphite showed an all-new Chrysler logo for the first time, looked near production-ready, and looked to be a worthy competitor to the likes of the Tesla Model X. However, a few months later, Chrysler CEO Chris Feuell decided to scratch the project in favor of something different.

Now Chrysler has informed the media that it will be introducing yet another concept vehicle showcasing the future of the brand. Slated to debut on Tuesday, February 13, at 5:01 a.m. EDT (we aren’t making this up) on Chrysler.com, this newest Chrysler vehicle is said to be a forward-looking concept.

Chrysler will release three teaser images throughout the week, with the first being the one above. Looking at the first teaser image, there isn’t much there to tell us much about this newest concept car. However, if you look close at it, we see the word “HALCYON.” FCA US, LLC, filed a trademark on the name back in October 2023, and it looks like we are now learning where the nameplate will go. Halcyon means a period of time in the past that was idyliccally happy and peaceful. 

We sure hope that the Halcyon will bring happiness to Chrysler enthuaists, but bring some new light to the brand inspiring a new generation of product that we can actually see in dealer showrooms.