The Chrysler 200C concept was not introduced under FCA oversight. This was still during the Cerberus tenure. The 200C concept is based on a modified Lx platform with a rear drive bias. The front drive Chrysler Sebring was the brand's midsize at that time. Both the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger were worst in class because Daimler's Penney pinching left the midsize cars with cheap substandard interior materials, sloppy suspension tuning, and the Hyundai / Mitsubishi / Chrysler "World" four cylinder engine. When FCA stepped in they poured a ton of money into the midsize cars as well as the Belvedere Trio to make them acceptable in the marketplace. The Sebring's reputation was so bad at this point FCA changed the name to the 200. The next midsize offering waiting in the wings was going to be a badge engineered Nissan Altima. There was no further development on the 200C or any midsize car done under the Cerberus oversight. The 200C and the other ENVI concepts were part of a smokescreen to cover up stripping and flipping planned under the leveraged buyout firm.
Sergio and Company stepped into Auburn Hills and resurrected a dead Chrysler Corporation. While the corpse they dragged back from the curb was free, it cost them a ton of money to bring it back to life. None of the ENVI projects would have been successful. Cerberus put Bob Nardelli and his stooges in charge of Chrysler where they managed to anger many of the suppliers, including the company which was slated to provide the range extender system for the concepts, if they reached production. Chrysler was locked into a contract with A123 for batteries, which was a financial time bomb waiting to explode. There was still a rear drive based Hemi Hybrid setup using an Allison hybrid transmission. GM stilled owned Allison at the time, and was severely gouging the old Chrysler Co. on the price per unit. This situation dates back to the Daimler management who had arranged the deal. None of these electrification efforts could have been successful in the marketplace, but any one of these might have been successful in killing the Chrysler company.
Now about that Chrysler 200 which did eventually show up in the showrooms, I will layout a timeline. Sergio Marchionne had recently saved Fiat from extinction by forcing GM to pay up some two billion Dollars of alimony in a divorce with Fiat. This happened just four years before Mr. Marchionne stepped into Auburn Hills. Alfa Romeo was a unit of Fiat Spa at the time GM was influencing the doings in Torino, just prior to the breakup. Those of us who were paying attention during the early 2000's decade remember that "World" cars were all the rage in the automobile industry. GM was particularly susceptible to this and most likely those dormant Alfa Romeo designs, which became the Dodge Dart, Jeep Cherokee and Chrysler 200, were influenced by this.
Going back to the timeline, when Daimler invaded Auburn Hills Bob Lutz went back to his old employer GM. He was midwife to the Chevy Volt project and the beautiful new Malibu which showed up in 2008. Unfortunately that was right at the time the economy collapsed, and once again Bob left an automobile company. The Obama regime got to pick who ran General Motors, but that's another story. That generation of the Malibu was clearly the class leader, but the sedan market was collapsing. The Ford Fusion is now gone as well as the Chrysler 200, and a different Malibu hangs on by a thread.
