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Chrysler Heir Tells Us His Thoughts On What The New Chrysler CEO Needs To Do!

As Chrysler New Leader CEO Comes Into Office, Tomorrow...

Earlier this past week, Stellantis announced that Christine Feuell, formerly the Chief Commercial Officer (CCO) of Honeywell Safety and Productivity Solutions will join the company effectivity tomorrow, as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Chrysler brand.

We thought we would reach out to our good friend Frank B. Rhodes, Jr. (the great-grandson of Walter P. Chrysler) and a man on a mission to save the Chrysler brand and his grandfather’s legacy, for his thoughts on the move to introduce a new CEO to what he thinks needs to be done to push Chrysler forward into the future.

Frank B. Rhodes, Jr. with a 1924 Chrysler Model B-70. (Frank B. Rhodes).

Here is what Mr. Rhodes, had to say…

“Today, the Chrysler brand has fallen to only two products, and according to the recent J.D. Power study, is at the bottom of the list in quality. In my opinion, the folks at the former Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) gave up on the Chrysler brand in favor of the Italian brands like Alfa Romeo and Maserati. They even closed the Walter P. Chrysler Museum at the Auburn Hills campus and are now using it for their North America base of operations for the two Italian brands.

We need someone to fight for the Chrysler brand and Mr. Tavares’ choice of Christine Feuell is hopefully the right pick. I know how it is that every division wants to get a bigger share of the monies. Well now, it is time for Chrysler to make a stand.

Walter P. Chrysler with original 1924 Chrysler Six. (Chrysler).

It makes me think back to a quote from the March – April 1972 issue of Antique Automobile stated, “Chrysler the name was unknown to the public, but Chrysler the man had experienced vast success and prestige within the industry. Combining practical ability with extraordinary vision, he viewed market conditions [from a] wide perspective. Vividly aware of rapidly changing times, he noted deep-rooted reluctance within the industry to make the proper adjustments.” 

Today, the Chrysler brand has almost 100 years of prestige. Please build on that.

1961 Chrysler 300G Convertible in front of the former Walter P. Chrysler Museum. (Chrysler).

Head of Design for Chrysler / Dodge / Jeep / Ram / Maserati / FIAT Latin America, Ralph Gilles, is a brilliant designer and knows the brand and its history well. I plead to him and his team to make the branding stand out on the Chrysler lineup, like what Ford has done with the Lincoln brand. Chrysler can tackle Buick and certain Lincoln vehicles with the right products. Does anyone remember the Imperial nameplate?

By the way, the “People Mover” brand, in my opinion, should not be a moniker for the Chrysler brand. I feel that they need to come up with something more exciting. Chrysler has been America’s blue-collar luxury brand since the beginning. Remember the successful “Imported From Detroit” campaign?

Engineering, styling, and especially QUALITY are key for the brand’s growth. I have been telling people at the Chrysler Corporation, Daimler, Cerberus, Chrysler LLC, FCA, and now Stellantis for years. Why can’t they get it right? 

In the early days, Walter P. Chrysler’s name was on the product. Unfortunately, today, in my opinion, there are a bunch of bean counters. Ms. Feuell, you will need to take charge and bring the Chrysler brand back. When a car is designed, have the changes ready to go from the beginning. The Japanese are good at this. The Chrysler 300 letter series was constantly changing and involving. Walter liked to tease the public, especially when the new Chrysler Imperial was about to launch.

Be careful not to put all of your eggs in one basket regarding electricity. Politics is always changing and, in my opinion, if we were to get a pro-fossil fuel president this whole experiment just might collapse.

2017 Chrysler Portal Concept. (Chrysler).

In the 1920s, Chrysler Corporation ran plain text pages touting this new revolutionary vehicle in the “Saturday Evening Post” for months before an actual picture of the product was shown. It helped build excitement for the product.

In the past several years, FCA has pumped billions into the Alfa Romeo brand, for how many sales? To rationalize, if just a fraction of those dollars had been allocated for Chrysler, where would we be? Chrysler is a household name and sometimes money will not buy sales as with Alfa and Fiat. Furthermore, there are thousands of dealers to service Chrysler products.

Frank Rhodes with his 2018 Chrysler 300S AWD. (Frank B. Rhodes).

Case in point, Chrysler 300 sales are down but holding with little or no investment or advertising. Maybe the brand received a smaller allocation of chips. The bottom line is that everything is paid for and FCA should have built on that foundation.

It is easy to criticize past decisions, but now is the time, your time, Ms. Feuell to make the necessary changes to bring this iconic blue-collar brand back to life!”

Robert S. Miller

Robert S. Miller is a diehard Mopar enthusiast who lives and breathes all that is Mopar. The Michigander is not only the Editor for MoparInsiders.com, 5thGenRams.com, and HDRams.com but an automotive photographer. He is an avid fan of offshore powerboat racing, which he travels the country to take part in.

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This seems out of touch with reality… we had a pro-fossil-fuel president before and automakers still committed to electric cars.

He’s also acting as if the money spent on Alfa didn’t help create the next-generation platforms that will be used across many brands, including Chrysler.

The people-mover definition was never really an acceptable identity. Looking at the new Airflow, they are going more technology-focused and premium.

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This seems out of touch with reality… we had a pro-fossil-fuel president before and automakers still committed to electric cars.

He’s also acting as if the money spent on Alfa didn’t help create the next-generation platforms that will be used across many brands, including Chrysler.

The people-mover definition was never really an acceptable identity. Looking at the new Airflow, they are going more technology-focused and premium.

"Born almost a century ago to produce premium vehicles, Chrysler now is the "people-mover" brand offering vehicles in shrinking segments."

"Under FCA, Chrysler had become the "people-mover" brand. Its plug-in hybrid minivan had attracted interest from self-driving robotaxi companies including Google parent Alphabet Inc.'s Waymo LLC and Hong Kong-based AutoX."

"Chrysler is Gearing up to Become a Real People Mover Brand"

Lots of articles out there stating it. Considering the Pacifica is so widely advertised and the 300 has nothing. Its easy to understand why

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This seems out of touch with reality… we had a pro-fossil-fuel president before and automakers still committed to electric cars.

He’s also acting as if the money spent on Alfa didn’t help create the next-generation platforms that will be used across many brands, including Chrysler.

The people-mover definition was never really an acceptable identity. Looking at the new Airflow, they are going more technology-focused and premium.

Agree with you @Ryan.
People-mover is more or less “vehicles that don’t fit in with Jeep/RAM/Dodge”.
The question we should be asking can marketing get people to pay $50,000 for a Chrysler-Branded vehicle?

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The man is pretty much spot on in my book. I have written on this before and the future of Chrysler lies in building on its history, culture and winning formula. I compromise when appropriate my hard core beliefs, try to be realistic and acknowledge the future with some form of electrification in the mix, but Chrysler is special and unique, a sacred brand to many.. Frankly, people mover classification is stoic, dull, not the way forward. But classic, affordable luxury in various forms of transportation seems a better road to take. It will take some died in the wool Chrysler people sitting around the corporate table to get this right and Frank B. Rhodes should be one of them. If the management team listens, thinks deeply, then Chrysler can be reinvented, actually build real Chrysler’s and be very profitable for sure. One honest viewing of that Imperial video might be a good place to start. Chrysler is not just a brand, it is an American icon. Handle with care.

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The man is pretty much spot on in my book. I have written on this before and the future of Chrysler lies in building on its history, culture and winning formula. I compromise when appropriate my hard core beliefs, try to be realistic and acknowledge the future with some form of electrification in the mix, but Chrysler is special and unique, a sacred brand to many.. Frankly, people mover classification is stoic, dull, not the way forward. But classic, affordable luxury in various forms of transportation seems a better road to take. It will take some died in the wool Chrysler people sitting around the corporate table to get this right and Frank B. Rhodes should be one of them. If the management team listens, thinks deeply, then Chrysler can be reinvented, actually build real Chrysler’s and be very profitable for sure. One honest viewing of that Imperial video might be a good place to start. Chrysler is not just a brand, it is an American icon. Handle with care.

LOL, nope Frank Rhodes has no chance of ever being in part of management, nor should he. That role belongs to John Elkann given FIAT having a family controlling legacy that carries over to Stellantis largest investor and when the 120th date comes it wouldn’t be shocking if John excludes Frank.

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