I feel like Chrysler has almost become a pointless brand at this point, which is sad, because I love all of the Stellantis North American brands very much. The reason I consider the brand pointless is because Jeep has more luxury vehicles in its lineup than Chrysler does. The new Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Wagoneer and the Grand Wagoneer are all way more luxurious than the current and old Chrysler 300 sedan, not to mention more useful being that they are SUVs. Also, what currently does the Chrysler 300 sedan compete with in it's marketplace. It's not on the level of European cars and it doesn't hold a candle to Cadillac in any way shape or form. It's right down there with the forgotten brands such as Lincoln and Buick, and that's not a good thing. The platform has aged and so have it's powertrains and have become over-rated and inefficient, but that pretty much holds true for most of the FCA North American lineup. Tim Kuniskis wasn't wrong when he said that the Hemi powertrains have reached a practical limit for power and honestly the brand hasn't changed much of anything since 2005 at the rebirth of the muscle cars. Same basic platform, and same basic powertrains (yes they moved to the 8-speed from the 5-speed) But we've seen more of the same over and over again for the last nearly 20 years so yes it truly is time for change.
While the design of this next-gen Chrysler Sedan is very impressive and the 800v dual motor power estimates of around 886hp for peak numbers is absolutely amazing, the big question to me is, What purpose does the Chrysler brand have at this point? As I said, Jeep really out-shines Chrysler when it comes to luxury and the only other thing the brand sells is a minivan, making the brand an overall snore-fest. To me, and this is clearly just my thoughts and opinions as usual, I would drop the Chrysler brand altogether and pull Ram back under the Dodge umbrella and just have Dodge and Jeep as my two brand for Stellantis North America. While I understand the impact and significance the Chrysler marque has, it's not doing Stellantis any good to keep it going at this point with the way that they have the brands set up and although the Airflow concept was beautiful and as I said the computerized concept design of the upcoming Chrysler sedan is sleek and beautiful, it makes more sense to just revamp Dodge and Jeep and move forward in that direction. Jeep would have it's two sub-brands with the Wrangler family including the electric Recon, the Wrangler/Wrangler unlimited and the Gladiator and then the Wagoneer Sub-brand which would include the Wagoneer Sport (rebranded Grand Cherokee to eliminate the issues the brand is having with the Cherokee nation), the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer. This gives Jeep its rugged type vehicles and it's luxury type vehicles and gives the brand distinct direction instead of just being all over the place covering over a dozen niches for no reason whatsoever. Give the Wrangler, Wrangler Unlimited, and the Wagoneer Sport (Grand Cherokee) all the 4Xe powertrain with the 375hp/470tq setup, have the Recon being electric and then give the Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer hybrid version of the 3.0L Hurricane (Standard Output Hybrid=Wagoneer, High Output Hybrid=Grand Wagoneer) and call it a day. Right there you have all the power and efficiency needed for these vehicles and a brand that actually makes sense.
As for the Dodge Brand, move the Ram trucks back into the Dodge umbrella, and this is where it gets fun! a Full EV 800V TRX with that 886hp powertrain for the 1500-series, a Hurricane Hybrid High Output powertrain for an SRT Ram 1500 pickup street performance truck, a Hurricane Standard Output hybrid powertrain for the Rebel, an R/T model, an limited model, a full 400V 440KW EV powertrain for the REV 1500 Tungsten model, and then a standard 3.0L Hurricane ICE powertrain for the models below that. Bring back the Dakota with hybrid hurricane powertrains and a 4Xe 2.0L (375hp/470tq) base model and then the Rampage with the same hybrid powertrain as the Hornet R/T plus it's other powertrains. Seeing that I'm not sure what they're planning for diesels at the moment, I guess let them soldier on. All of those little Jeep crossovers that we have now (Compass, Cherokee & Renegade) become the Dodge hornet as the Cherokee, Compass and Hornet are all about the same size anyway and the Cherokee, I believe is on the same platform already. Give the hornet two hybrid options, the R/T's 288hp/383tq setup and a 1.3L Turbo hybrid setup with 240hp/360tq for the GT models and call it a day. There definitely should be an SRT4 package to pay homage to the SRT4 Neon and SRT4 Caliber with this new vehicle and honestly it could easily be done. With all of that now tidied up this leaves the fun now wide open and this segment is the reason why I say the brand has unlimited levels of potential because everything on the STLA Large platform can easily be a hit and touch so many different markets because this platform is the heart of the market platform. This platform can accommodate so many different powertrains and with the "Freedom on top" design, the STLA Large platform can truly save the STLA North American market under the Dodge brand alone. Take five hybrid powertrains, the 2.0L Hybrid 4Xe powertrain, a 3.0L Hurricane SO hybrid, a 3.0L HO Cat-3 Hybrid powertrain, the Nettuno 3.0L V6 Hybrid powertrain and the Hurricane Cat-X 3.0L Hybrid powertrain, add in the EV powertrains with two 400v 340Kw & 440Kw powertrains with their DC Stage 1 & 2 upgrades, and then add in the Banshee 800V powertrains with it's 2 DC upgrades, offer more Direct Connection upgrades for every single powertrain along with Jailbreak options and other factory options for all powertrain levels and right there that takes care of having to worry about borrowing tax credits from Tesla, fines from the EPA boards and keeping us Mopar performance fans happy with horsepower. If these powertrains can go 25-30miles on full EV power and reduce carbon footprints across the board while increasing the practical limits of performance above what we have now, be made to sound good while doing so AND have more power than the current powertrains we have now on better platforms? LET'S GO!!!!! Because to me, I'm seeing this as a sleeker, modernized '72-'73 styled Challenger coupe, a modernized 4-door coupe version of the '68-70 Charger, a big, sleek, sexy 7-series fighter called the Dodge Monaco (which would be really nice with that sleek design that we see as a next-gen Chrysler concept), a Slightly larger version of the Chrysler airflow concept with more influence from the Hornet as the Dodge Stealth which would be a great Kia EV6-GT, Chevy Blazer SS EV, Lambo Urus and other low riding super SUV-type fighter from the Dodge brand. While this one may sound crazy, having the Grand Caravan return to take the place of the Durango may not be as crazy as it sounds. An STLA Large platform, RWD based AWD people mover with seating for seven along with a bit of utility is exactly what the Durango already is. Giving the minivan a more performance crossover look, while staying fairly low to the ground, giving it enough wheel-well for some big wide wheels and tires, some insane performance options and a few other things wouldn't be outside of the realm of something the Dodge brand would do anyway, not to mention it would pay homage to the Street Vans of the 70's which goes right along with Challenger and Charger anyway as they're retro-themed vehicles from way back when as well. Lastly we could see a STLA Frame version of the big bad Durango with an off road Ramcharger package along with some street performance versions to combat vehicles like the Expedition Stealth and the Tahoe RST with evolutionary styling from the current Durango, blended with the Ram TRX. Again, this is why I say the brand has so much potential because there are so many things that can be done that can both keep its customer base happy and actually make them alot happier all while getting the EPA off their backs. But again, just my thoughts
