What Cars Should Chrysler Dump?

[matt41]

1. Aspen----Why? I rode in one of these before, and noticed a shaky, plastic-filled ride. Hideous styling, Dodge Durango ripoff. ***

2. Compass----Again, Why? This, sir, is no Jeep! Ugh, what were they thinking, a mother's on-road Jeep? ***

3. Sebring----So-so styling, plastic-filled interior. Put simply enough: Not good enough.

4. Caliber----Not the prettiest Dodge ever, let me tell ya that. And how so is this a Neon replacement? My stomach growls in disgust at it.

5. PT Cruiser----Whoever wanted one already owns one. The styling was OK at its introduction, now it's just sad and pathetic. ***

6. Grand Caravan---- Not a Dodge. Just no. The Town & Country is bad itself, why add another piece of plastic to the mix?

*** = GET RID OF NOW!

What's your opinion?

Edited October 21, 2007 by MarioBro88

[vonVeezelsnider]

Get Rid of:

Nitro

Compass

Aspen

Pacifica

T&C

Commander

PT Cruiser

Fix:

Sebring

Caliber

Rename Liberty to Cherokee.

[matt41]

Get Rid of:

Nitro

Compass

Aspen

Pacifica

T&C

Commander

PT Cruiser

Fix:

Sebring

Caliber

Rename Liberty to Cherokee.

I agree for the most part. I actually kind of like the Nitro.

Tes, fix the Sebring, if possible, AND the minivans, if possible.

[Ravenfreak13]

1. Aspen----Why? I rode in one of these before, and noticed a shaky, plastic-filled ride. Hideous styling, Dodge Durango ripoff. ***

2. Compass----Again, Why? This, sir, is no Jeep! Ugh, what were they thinking, a mother's on-road Jeep? ***

3. Sebring----So-so styling, plastic-filled interior. Put simply enough: Not good enough.

4. Caliber----Not the prettiest Dodge ever, let me tell ya that. And how so is this a Neon replacement? My stomach growls in disgust at it.

5. PT Cruiser----Whoever wanted one already owns one. The styling was OK at its introduction, now it's just sad and pathetic. ***

6. Grand Caravan---- Not a Dodge. Just no. The Town & Country is bad itself, why add another piece of plastic to the mix?

*** = GET RID OF NOW!

What's your opinion?

Most interiors are plastic filled....and the Sebring is the best selling chrysler right now, fleet or not.

1st gen PT had AWESOME styling, which is why they sold around 100k per year until recently.

Caliber is selling well and people are liking it.

Grand Caravan is essential to Chrysler. Duh.

Aspen and Compass can bite the dust though.

[FAPTurbo]

The words 'Chrysler' and 'Dump' , in the same sentence make me laugh for some reason.

[Brougham-Holiday]

Kill:

Nitro-ugly as hell

Aspen-No reason in the first place

Sprinter-WTF

ReDo

PT Cruiser-Once a hot seller, this model has made a lot of sales for Chrysler

Sebring-Ditto

Crossfire

Commander

Caliber

300/Magnum/Charger-all getting old

Avenger-needs a new name and better build quality

Durango again once a good seller that lost its way.

Save

Liberty

Wrangler

T&C

Grand Caravan

Trucks though Dakota could use a freshening

[Flybrian]

You don't want to hear Ven and me's ideas. They're just...wrong.

So wrong....

[Intrepidation]

1. Aspen----Why? I rode in one of these before, and noticed a shaky, plastic-filled ride. Hideous styling, Dodge Durango ripoff. ***

2. Compass----Again, Why? This, sir, is no Jeep! Ugh, what were they thinking, a mother's on-road Jeep? ***

3. Sebring----So-so styling, plastic-filled interior. Put simply enough: Not good enough.

4. Caliber----Not the prettiest Dodge ever, let me tell ya that. And how so is this a Neon replacement? My stomach growls in disgust at it.

5. PT Cruiser----Whoever wanted one already owns one. The styling was OK at its introduction, now it's just sad and pathetic. ***

6. Grand Caravan---- Not a Dodge. Just no. The Town & Country is bad itself, why add another piece of plastic to the mix?

*** = GET RID OF NOW!

What's your opinion?

IMO your brain is broken if you think they should Dump the Caravan, the founder of the minivan segment which sells more than the T & C by the way.

PT should be redesigned...but if Chrysler actually moves upmarket than maybe not.

Caliber's looks are merely opinion. It sells reasonably well and is currently the entry vehicle with which to attract first time buyers. Dropping out of the small car segment would be a stupid move.

Sebring's interior is not all plastic if you actually spent time in one....but it's not good enough, neither is the exterior.

The other 2 I'll agree with.

Kill:

Aspen

Compass

Crossfire

Commander

By the way, the Sprinter is better equipped, more efficient and safer than Ford's or GM's offerings...it just lacks towing abilities.

Nitro should be unibody with road manners in mind.

Edited October 22, 2007 by Dodgefan

[vonVeezelsnider]

Good Points, DF... I don't know what they were thinking with the Aspen anyway. When it was announced I was like.... This is so doomed to fail.

[RJB]

I say...

Jeep:

Kill

Compass

Commander

Dodge:

Kill

Durango

Dakota

Nitro

Chrysler:

Kill

Crossfire

Pacifica

Aspen

PT

They seem to have fallen into the same pattern GM is still trying to get away from and that is...too many duplicate vehicles under a different name in the same catergories. It makes no sense at all to try and have the same cars/trucks competing against each other.

Edited October 22, 2007 by RJB

[Intrepidation]

Good Points, DF... I don't know what they were thinking with the Aspen anyway. When it was announced I was like.... This is so doomed to fail.

I have no idea what was being smoked when they brought that thing into the world...the BOF SUV segment was already shrinking at the time. Like I've said, put the Aspen's interior in the Durango, along with the brightwork, and drop the Apsen.

Dakota

Why do people keep suggesting the Dakota? It overlaps with nothing because it is the only midsize truck Chrysler has and is a pretty good one. In addition, it, like the Caravan, is the founder of the segment it competes in. It's shortcomings are the exterior (which i think looks pretty good since the MCE) and the interior. It has a very good V8 powertrain now and best-in-class towing capabilities. It just needs to be marketed better....like "Full size capability without the full size fuel economy/road manners/maneuverability/price"

Edited October 22, 2007 by Dodgefan

[A Horse With No Name]

You don't want to hear Ven and me's ideas. They're just...wrong.

So wrong....

Perhaps the best way to dump Chryselr products would be to rent the Cougar Ace (the ship that capsized in the Pacific with the Mazdas on board) Cut a big ass hole in the side and repeat the Mazda thing, only fill the ship with Chrysler products instead.

Agree on the Nitto and Compass, as well as the ugly, ugly Caliber. Ditto on Crossfire, Pacifica, commander, Aspen, Durango, etc.

And yes, kill the damned Sebring Also.

Preferably as soon as possible.

Chris

Edited October 22, 2007 by 66Stang

[dimitri0917]

the sebring and avenger deserve so much better. they could've been saved last year, but now sebring is totally fubar... ugly as sin too. and avenger hadn't a chance. i remeber the ride was so boring, it made my heart ache for chrysler. the dakota's refresh looks good, as does the liberty. it's amazing how the liberty in my eyes is so much better than the nitro, which looks like a steamed pile of wannabe sporty crap. aspen and durango disgust me on sight. i'm ashamed at what a shell of it's former self the durango has become. it used to be fun! what else... the 300 and charger have lost the cool for me.

you know what chrysler needs? small cars. the caliber and compass are embarassing. the pt is overdone now. i long for the days of the undying neon. they should've refreshed that and they'd be on better ground than they are now.

Edited October 22, 2007 by dimitri0917

[ZL-1]

i wonder why the pacifica looks so forgotten in chrysler's lineup. if only a significantly reengineered pacifica was on offer instead of the aspen...

[ocnblu]

Caliber: get rid of the stupid CVT and the base 2.0L, gutless engine. Make the NA 2.4 the base mill. Give it a light-pressure turbo 2.4 with about 200 hp as a bridge between the R/T and SRT-4. Bring us a diesel.

Avenger: different, attractive (especially in higher trims), could also use the light-pressure turbo 4 with a manual.

Charger: nice as is.

Magnum: my problem with it is, it has such limited visibility with that low, rakish roofline. Not enough ppl have wanted a sportwagon with so much emphasis on "sport" at the expense of practicality. I like it though.

Nitro: I liked it when it first came out, but now I don't see a real reason for it. It's a street SUV, seems like a silly image to project. Drop it.

Dakota: I like it since the MCE. Needs a regular cab bodystyle. Needs an R/T trim level. The problem with this truck is... it does not present enough to differentiate it from the Ram, fuel mileage-wise.

Durango: should have been left on the Dakota chassis. The current-gen is a pig. Drop it or slim it down.

Ram: fine, needs engine updates, gas and diesel... with a light-duty Cummins engine available.

Sprinter: fine, and seems to be selling well, I see this box everywhere.

These are my 2 cents regarding the Dodge lineup.

[Oracle of Delphi]

All of them!

[red]

Sadly, Chrysler LLC has a full lineup of hollow products that are outbuilt and outclassed in practically every way.

First to go should be the Sebring, hands down the ugliest car & worst product since the ION.

The Commander was too late to the market, and does too many things wrong to make up for the few that it does right.

The Compass was a great idea...but absolutely 100% poorly executed. A rally Jeep: great idea. The result: an overwrought, thrown together econobox that excels in precisely nothing.

The Aspen & Durango simply aren't what the market needs right now, or anytime soon. Same goes with the Dakota. These three need to be re-thought.

The PT should be ditched...a new icon should be created in its place. Something to get the division going again (only to crash 4 years later...that's the Wheel of Chysler!)

I think the Nitro should go once the Journey is on the market...the Journey is actually the first cohesive Chrysler I've seen in a while, and seems to be a better fit for today's marketplace, relative to the crude Nitro.

Basically, Chrysler has a long way to go.

Hopefully by going private, they'll be able to make more impactful decisions that allow for better LT results.

[91z4me]

I think everyone will agree the Compass should be the first to go. Take the Compass tooling and make a replacement for the PT if you need to do something w/ the tooling. Next in line is the Aspen/Durango. Neither are doing well and both are not only low in their class rankings but horrible in the gas mileage department. Take the Commander chassis and redo it to a decent looking large/midsize 7 seat Durango and make an on road sport tuned version of the Grand Cherokee for Chrysler. The Patriot is exactly what it should be, only get rid of the FWD model and make it awd/4wd only. The Liberty/Nitro are OK but I would like to see a pickup version to replace the Dakota (something like the M80 concept would do great). The Avenger needs a different name and look. The styling would have made a great Charger update but do you really need a mini-me Charger? The Sebring actually just needs a restyle on the C pillar and rear end (though I haven't seen the interior in person to know how that part looks). The Caliber is doing very well and remember it isn't replacing the Neon, that replacement is still coming.

What I see that Chrysler doesn't have that it will need, should it want to be taken seriously as a luxury brand and a world class car maker, is a compact RWD sports chassis. A Phoenix V6/Hemi V8 powered balanced RWD sedan/coupe/vert could definitely bring credit to the company.

[Intrepidation]

I think everyone will agree the Compass should be the first to go. Take the Compass tooling and make a replacement for the PT if you need to do something w/ the tooling. Next in line is the Aspen/Durango. Neither are doing well and both are not only low in their class rankings but horrible in the gas mileage department. Take the Commander chassis and redo it to a decent looking large/midsize 7 seat Durango and make an on road sport tuned version of the Grand Cherokee for Chrysler. The Patriot is exactly what it should be, only get rid of the FWD model and make it awd/4wd only. The Liberty/Nitro are OK but I would like to see a pickup version to replace the Dakota (something like the M80 concept would do great). The Avenger needs a different name and look. The styling would have made a great Charger update but do you really need a mini-me Charger? The Sebring actually just needs a restyle on the C pillar and rear end (though I haven't seen the interior in person to know how that part looks). The Caliber is doing very well and remember it isn't replacing the Neon, that replacement is still coming.

What I see that Chrysler doesn't have that it will need, should it want to be taken seriously as a luxury brand and a world class car maker, is a compact RWD sports chassis. A Phoenix V6/Hemi V8 powered balanced RWD sedan/coupe/vert could definitely bring credit to the company.

I think the vanger's name is good, I think it's roofline could use some tweaking, but I like it overall still.

I wasn't aware there was going to be a sedan replacement for the Neon...where's information on it? I'd love to read it.

[91z4me]

I think the vanger's name is good, I think it's roofline could use some tweaking, but I like it overall still.

I wasn't aware there was going to be a sedan replacement for the Neon...where's information on it? I'd love to read it.

I don't really follow the Chrysler circles like I do GM but I have heard it constantly mentioned that the Caliber is NOT the Neon replacement. It is more like a Dodge version of the initially popular PT. The Neon replacement will be built from the same chassis as the Lancer IIRC and should be a very strong contender in its segment IF they get the styling right.

[Intrepidation]

I don't really follow the Chrysler circles like I do GM but I have heard it constantly mentioned that the Caliber is NOT the Neon replacement. It is more like a Dodge version of the initially popular PT. The Neon replacement will be built from the same chassis as the Lancer IIRC and should be a very strong contender in its segment IF they get the styling right.

I wonder if Chris knows anything about this?

If they tune it similar to the Lancer they should be good, all hey need is a real automatic...preferably with 5 or more gears at least in the top trim level...and yes, style ir right.

[matt41]

I know this is a GM fan site, but....

Why don't WE re-do the Chrysler lineup the way we want to?

[CMG]

I know this is a GM fan site, but....

Why don't WE re-do the Chrysler lineup the way we want to?

I've seen your drawings. NO THANKS.

LOL

[ToniCipriani]

I totally agree of getting rid of the Town & Country. I saw a 2008 parked next to a Caravan. I was like... nice job trying to separate them. They used different headlights, but they still look identical, so what was the point?

[caddycruiser]

I totally agree of getting rid of the Town & Country. I saw a 2008 parked next to a Caravan. I was like... nice job trying to separate them. They used different headlights, but they still look identical, so what was the point?

That's true, and they are clearly VERY badge engineered, but it's always worked. You wanted the sportier, less trimmed out version, you got the Dodge. You wanted the more luxurious, tarted up version, you got the Chrysler.

And from what I've seen, both have always seemed to sell exactly on the same level--and to their own respective buyer groups--so keeping both is still a good idea.

There's a LOT about the new Chrysler vans that already could stand change from day one, but they're the bread & butter, and always a strong seller no matter what.

And there's just much more needy products that need to go away or be drastically re-done, far and away, before even touching the vans.

[CMG]

I totally agree of getting rid of the Town & Country. I saw a 2008 parked next to a Caravan. I was like... nice job trying to separate them. They used different headlights, but they still look identical, so what was the point?

Caravans and Town & Country vans have ALWAYS looked nearly identical, have they not?? Grill, a bit of trim, and the interiors were different but I could never tell them apart from a side glimpse?

*shrugs*

[vonVeezelsnider]

At least they have different headlights... That's a good effort for the domestic manufacturers when it comes to vans. All things considered, I've always admired the T&C and this generation is the most revolutionary since the first.