The badge may say Chrysler or Dodge, but in five years the car you rent from Thrifty or Dollar or whatever will be American on the outside and Italian on the inside.
Fiat may own just 20 percent of the Chrysler Group, but it's already going to have a profound effect on the future lineup of the smallest of Detroit's Big Three.
The highlights are this: the brightest points of the Chrysler product line are staying in place. That means Jeeps like the Grand Cherokee and Wrangler, the LX cars (300C, Charger and Challenger) and the minivans (Grand Caravan and Town & Country) aren't going anywhere. In fact, Fiat's rumored to be exploiting them, like their rumored plans to put a future Maserati or Alfa Romeo on the LX chassis and a future JGC-based Alfa SUV (pray that doesn't happen).
But the sore points of Chrysler -- basically everything else -- is going under Fiat rule. That eventually will mean smaller and more fuel-efficient cars with better build quality.
Autocar's Hilton Holloway has a point. There's a reason to be skeptical about the plan because it's going up against what GM and Ford have going in the American market. And now that the General has denied Magna the chance to share custody of Opel, that means the Germans will play more of a role in making sure there are world-competitive in the small car arena.
The only real distinction to Chrysler's new five-year plan is the Fiat 500. The car that made the new Mini look mundane will be saving the bacon of selected Pentastar dealers late next year and could prove to boost sales traffic like the British icon did to BMW centers. If anything, it could suddenly attract a whole new market to Chrysler dealers and maybe some more people will consider products such as Jeeps again.
Frankly, I still have a secret admiration for some Chrysler cars, like the Challenger and Jeeps, and a respect for more mainstream ones like the Charger and minivans. But there's no cachet to the Chrysler or Dodge brands that will make me lose my affection for Subaru, VW, or anything else European for that matter. If Fiat can't do what Daimler ultimately refused to do, there won't be anything left of Chrysler.
Showing posts with label Dodge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dodge. Show all posts
November 6, 2009
July 10, 2009
Confession #2: I want a pony car
This is insane.
In all of my roughly two decades of existence I have never had the urge for a Camaro or Mustang. If I bought a V6 version of either people would think I was a tourist if I drove around Santa Barbara. Or assume it was my girlfriend's car.
If I had a Camaro Z28 or Mustang GT I'd look like an idiot because I arms like pipe cleaners. And I wouldn't be able to afford to insure or fill it with gas. My grandmother had a '69 Firebird. Not a Trans Am, but it had a V8. She later swaped it for a new Toyota Corona, and then had a Volvo after. That's how ill-suited that matchup was. With me it would be even weirder.
A few months ago I saw a new Camaro parked in a parking garage. It had manufacturer plates so I assumed it was a press demonstrator. But I couldn't stop looking at it. I walked around it half a dozen times, looking at every detail. It was amazing.
And then a few days later I saw a new Dodge Challenger stopped at the lights. That looked great from every angle too. I nearly rolled into the car in front of me because I was so distracted.
But my new condition only got worse when I was behind a Mustang, stuck in traffic in tourist-infested Santa Barbara. I only knew it was the 2010 Mustang because it's slightly more slanted at each end than last year's. But when it signaled to turn I saw easily the best lighting design feature on a car: the sequential turn signal. I was in love.
The fact I would buy a car just because of its turn signals sounds absurd because it is. Think about it: if you're driving the car you're never going to see this amazing piece of design. And frankly if you drive the Mustang or the Camaro or the Challenger you're not going to see anything while you're driving because the visibility in all three is so bad.
But I can't stop thinking about owning a new Camaro 2LT with the RS pack. Yes I know it's the V6. But that V6 has just as much power as a BMW 135i and it costs about as much as a 128i. With none of the snobbery that comes with a BMW badge.
In all of my roughly two decades of existence I have never had the urge for a Camaro or Mustang. If I bought a V6 version of either people would think I was a tourist if I drove around Santa Barbara. Or assume it was my girlfriend's car.
If I had a Camaro Z28 or Mustang GT I'd look like an idiot because I arms like pipe cleaners. And I wouldn't be able to afford to insure or fill it with gas. My grandmother had a '69 Firebird. Not a Trans Am, but it had a V8. She later swaped it for a new Toyota Corona, and then had a Volvo after. That's how ill-suited that matchup was. With me it would be even weirder.
A few months ago I saw a new Camaro parked in a parking garage. It had manufacturer plates so I assumed it was a press demonstrator. But I couldn't stop looking at it. I walked around it half a dozen times, looking at every detail. It was amazing.
And then a few days later I saw a new Dodge Challenger stopped at the lights. That looked great from every angle too. I nearly rolled into the car in front of me because I was so distracted.
But my new condition only got worse when I was behind a Mustang, stuck in traffic in tourist-infested Santa Barbara. I only knew it was the 2010 Mustang because it's slightly more slanted at each end than last year's. But when it signaled to turn I saw easily the best lighting design feature on a car: the sequential turn signal. I was in love.
The fact I would buy a car just because of its turn signals sounds absurd because it is. Think about it: if you're driving the car you're never going to see this amazing piece of design. And frankly if you drive the Mustang or the Camaro or the Challenger you're not going to see anything while you're driving because the visibility in all three is so bad.
But I can't stop thinking about owning a new Camaro 2LT with the RS pack. Yes I know it's the V6. But that V6 has just as much power as a BMW 135i and it costs about as much as a 128i. With none of the snobbery that comes with a BMW badge.
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