Chrysler Heir Wants Stellantis To Put More Effort Into Protecting The Chrysler Brand!

Chrysler Heir Wants Stellantis To Put More Effort Into Protecting The Chrysler Brand!​

Walter P. Chrysler's Great-Grandson, Wants Stellantis To Invest In The Chrysler Nameplate...​

As Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) merged with French automaker Peugeot S.A. (PSA) earlier this year, to create the new identity of Stellantis, (the fourth-largest global automaker by volume), one man looked on with frustration to see the company that held his family name for 95 years would no longer exist. That man is Frank Rhodes, the great-grandson of Chrysler founder Walter P. Chrysler.

Chrysler Heir Wants Stellantis To Put More Effort Into Protecting The Chrysler Brand!

As Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) merged with French automaker Peugeot S.A. (PSA) earlier this year, to create the new identity of Stellantis, (the fourth-largest global automaker by volume), one man looked on with frustration to see the company that held his family name for 95 years would no...

moparinsiders.com

 

[AlexB]

So anything marketed in North America under the Fiat, Alfa or Maserati brands is delusional by your definition. Got it.

Maserati own business unit and are above $50,000. You are incorrect.

As for Alfa… On Autoline they mention the pricing is right at Benz/BMW/Audi.
John Elkann been pretty clear on seeing potential in Alfa & Maserati as they serve the need on the high end.

 

[BWS]

my favorite Chrysler SUV design was by a CCS student...

View attachment 5052

Nice. Very nice!

 

[BWS]

Maserati own business unit and are above $50,000. You are incorrect.

As for Alfa… On Autoline they mention the pricing is right at Benz/BMW/Audi.
John Elkann been pretty clear on seeing potential in Alfa & Maserati as they serve the need on the high end.

But will have no hope of meeting your stated measure of success of 50000 units a year at $50000. So must be delusional.

 

[AlexB]

But will have no hope of meeting your stated measure of success of 50000 units a year at $50000. So must be delusional.

Dodge disagrees.

 

[BWS]

Dodge disagrees.

? Whatever

 

[AlexB]

? Whatever

Before the chip shortage, the Average Transaction Price for a Stellantis U.S. was $45,K….
That’s WITH A OUTGOING GRAND CHEROKEE AND ZERO Wagoneers.
The chip shortage pushed Average Transaction Price to $48,K
New Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee L, Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer Will very easily push Stellantis Average Transaction Pricing in the U.S. above $50,000.

Outside of a Midsize Truck, why would John allow a CEO to present to him North America BUILT models that can’t contribute to $50,000 pricing?

 

[bill burke]

When choosing to join in on a controversial topic you run a risk. I choose then wide eyed to pontificate in a superficially fact based, more emotional, fun way to make a simple point. POINT- Stellantis has the financial, engineering and styling resources to create a plan to save Chrysler. I do not have the full factual or financial information to discuss this topic in depth, just enough though to make a hypothetical case here. Those of us who have an attachment to Chrysler and perhaps a few smarts too, I may note, enjoy the banter. I own, enjoy and cherish a Chrysler Crossfire convertible roadster. Yes, yes it’s a Mercedes to its core, but it bares that wonderful Chrysler logo. It is my endearing last remnant of the Chrysler’s past I “Willy-nilly” bought and sold over the years and now so regret doing. I refuse to relinquish my hope, my conviction that Chrysler will be saved. Damn the facts, doom sayers or fact manipulators , we loyalist understand and choose to share that warm place in our hearts for Chrysler without apology or rancor.

 

[BWS]

Before the chip shortage, the Average Transaction Price for a Stellantis U.S. was $45,K….
That’s WITH A OUTGOING GRAND CHEROKEE AND ZERO Wagoneers.
The chip shortage pushed Average Transaction Price to $48,K
New Grand Cherokee, Grand Cherokee L, Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer Will very easily push Stellantis Average Transaction Pricing in the U.S. above $50,000.

Outside of a Midsize Truck, why would John allow a CEO to present to him North America BUILT models that can’t contribute to $50,000 pricing?

So let me get this straight . You are proposing that moving forward Stellantis will nix anything below a $50,000 average transaction to be built in North America. LOL. Let me know if that transpires, and if so how it pans out. Keep me posted. Lol

 

[AlexB]

So let me get this straight . You are proposing that moving forward Stellantis will nix anything below a $50,000 average transaction to be built in North America. LOL. Let me know if that transpires, and if so how it pans out. Keep me posted. Lol

You can”” LOL “”all you want, Stellantis will limit producing or avoid investing in regional North American products that can’t obtain $50,000 mark.
Pacifica and Midsize Truck will be the exceptions.
In case you didn’t know : F-Series Super Duties, RAM HD. RAM DT 1500 are near or exceed $50,000 Average pricing.
I haven’t even mention the factor of EV Powertrain pricing in the next 4 years.

 

[justbekuz]

my favorite Chrysler SUV design was by a CCS student...

Perhaps there was slim chance of Chrysler SUV if it wasn't for the long wait for the Wagoneer(s) to come back into the market. Lincoln as well as many other Asian and German Brands made the transient way back when many of us saw the first Mercedes and BMW Suv's and could not stop laughing believing they were afterthoughts with leftover OEM Parts! Boy, were we wrong! The Chrysler name need an exclusive model such as an (premium) electric vehicle. I just don't see the Chrysler name reinventing itself with a conventional sedan model.

 

[MPE426HEMI]

Heir heir! Mr.Rhodes!
I’d wish they’d spend half as much attention on Chrysler as they do with Jeep. You’d think with Jeep and Ram being so successful, they’d let the sales take care of themselves and go to work on another nameplate. And Chrysler desperately needs attention and now. Dodge also needs a couple of more vehicles in the line up, and I don’t mean 700 HP vehicles only the elite can own. We’ll see what Stellantis does. But as with fiat, I won’t be buying a Peugeot.

 

[patfromigh]

Looking at Chrysler history, the brand was definitely a small player in the marketplace during the postwar period up until the mid-1970s. The introduction of the Cordoba followed by the Le Baron changed that. Chrysler as brand could only go in that direction because of the death of its sister brand DeSoto. The Chrysler marque had been kept alive by Plymouth, the corporate volume brand. Chrysler introduced engineering advances which Plymouth then inherited. Plymouth volume paid the bills and bought tooling. As I have stated elsewhere, the Plymouth brand is now gone and has been replaced by KIA. It is much too late to turn Chrysler into a volume brand. The death of Plymouth happened well before any cappuccino machines were installed in Auburn Hills.

The Chrysler brand, with its aging sedan and a state of the art minivan, now competes against Cadillac and Lincoln. This situation hasn't developed because Chrysler has been elevated, but because the former prestige marques have reached down market and invaded Chrysler's price range. The sedans offered by the competing brands are on the way out. Cadillac in particular has to figure out a way to reclaim its credibility as a premium buy, as it drops small sedans in favor of very pricey BEVs. Ford has allowed Lincoln the opportunity to offer hybrids as well as battery electrics, so that brand shouldn't offer any sticker shock.

The Jeep Grand Wagoneer now competes against the priciest offerings from Cadillac and Lincoln. (I am not including special sports models.) The Wagoneer will offer electrified models in a few years, placing the Stellantis offerings on a level playing field with the Cadillac and Lincoln SUVs. The Lincoln Blackwood was a marketplace failure, and that is why we won't see an Imperial replacement. The vehicle which now holds the old Chrysler Imperial's wrung on the luxury price ladder is the Ram 1500 Limited.

 

[vbondjr1]

Chrysler (besides the 300) was more of the laid back luxury car of the Mopar lineup, unlike Plymouth and Dodge, which were the performance arm and jeep being the off road arm (after the merger from AMC). If Chrysler is not planning to compete with the likes of Mercedes Benz, Audi, BMW and Lexus, then quite frankly there really isn't a point in continuing the brand. It's not to say they couldn't compete with the big Euro-Jap names but they don't. The article talks about Lincoln as a brand as if it were a competitor but to be quite frank, Lincoln's level of luxury and quality isn't even on par with a Durango Citadel. That's not a jab at the Durango being that a Durango Citadel is a nice vehicle and much nicer than any Lincoln I've ever been in which would include the newest rendition of the failure they call the new Continental along with the 400hp MKZ Black Label and the Navigator. The Durango Citadel and SRT trump everything in Lincoln's lineup and I'm sure the Hellcat Durango is even nicer. But back to my point, Chrysler shouldn't be looking at any other American brand to be competitive with. The Chrysler theme should be dynamic luxury and it should be at the Forefront of America's Luxury performance with both Hybrid and electric powertrains. In a way, the Brand should be the equivalent of an American Mercedes Benz. Bring back the 300M, the LHS, the Lebaron, the New Yorker, the Newport, Aspen and the Imperial. Let the brand blend immense power with absolute luxury and technology. Dodge has already established itself as the muscle brand and jeep in the money making machine that covers several different bases from daily drivers, to weekend off road warriors, while Ram is the most bad@$$ truck brand period! Granted I would have loved to see Dodge continue on with the Challenger, Charger and unibody Durango and bring out the Ram Ramcharger as the more bad@$$ version of the Jeep Grand Wagoneer (which would have made much more sense than the Hornet but that's just my thinking). But if Chrysler wants to continue, the soccer-mom minivan thing has got to end. Keep the Pacifica name and make it a crossover and go from there.