Chrysler crashes limo market

[SoCalCTS]

Chrysler crashes limo market
Stretch 300 takes on Lincoln Town Car, extended Cadillac DTS
Josee Valcourt / Detroit News story



Think the interior of the Chrysler 300 is cavernous? A stretched version of the sedan -- about six inches longer -- is in the works as the automaker prepares to venture into the limousine business.

DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group is in final talks with Lima, Ohio-based Accubuilt Inc. to produce mini-stretched 300 sedans similar to an elongated version Accubuilt created for display last month at the Specialty Equipment Market Association Show, a performance and custom vehicle event held annually in Las Vegas.

The stretch 300 will be aimed at the limousine industry and compete against Ford Motor Co.'s Lincoln Town Car and General Motors Corp.'s extended Cadillac DTS. Lincoln and Cadillac have long dominated the limo and livery market.

Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau declined comment.

The automaker will put the longer wheelbase vehicle on the LX rear-wheel drive platform on which the current 300, Dodge Charger sedans and Magnum station wagon are built, according to Accubuilt officials.

About 1,000 LX platforms -- equipped with touring and hemi-engine packages -- will be shipped to Accubuilt from Chrysler's Brampton, Ontario, plant.

Accubuilt, which also manufactures the stretched Cadillac DeVille, now replaced by the Cadillac DTS, will saw the 300 in half and add the inches to the middle, said Ken Earnest, Accubuilt's vice president of marketing. The vehicles will be delivered to Chrysler dealers.

"When you hear six inches, it doesn't sound like a lot but when you're sitting in the back of a car, another six inches is substantial," Earnest said.

For local companies such as Metro Car that offer executive livery services, a more spacious 300 providing corporate clientele with more wiggle room is a plus for business.

"The core of our business is the back seat of the vehicle and when you can provide more room in the back, it's an added value," said Kevin Dunbar, vice president for Romulus-based Metro Car, which already has 10 Chrysler 300s in its 100-plus fleet. The company uses mainly Town Cars and Cadillacs to transport passengers.

"It was very refreshing to have Chrysler come out with the 300 to begin with," Dunbar said.

The 2-year-old 300 already has proven a hit for Chrysler. Sales of the car are up 41 percent through November compared to its debut year.

Production of the stretched 300 could begin in July, said Dennis Schlueter, program director for Accubuilt.

Output will depend on demand, Earnest said. Accubuilt produces roughly 4,000 specialty vehicles annually, including several hundred Cadillac DTS models.

"Chrysler's anticipation is much larger because they are very excited about this," Earnest said.

Stretching the 300 will help Chrysler maximize use of its LX platform that is the underpinning of Charger and Magnum. The Challenger concept muscle car to be unveiled at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit will use the same underpinning if it goes into production.

"From a manufacturing cost-savings standpoint, that's a smart way to go," Catherine Madden, a production analyst with Global Insight Inc., a Waltham, Mass.-based economic forecasting firm.

"It's seems to me like it's a perfect fit," Madden said. "It fills a slot. It's below a Mercedes product but above the 300."



Accubilt Chrysler 300C Limo website

The Chrysler 300 six-inch longer wheelbase project vehicle is a joint project between Accubuilt and QualityMetalcraft to explore the addition of six extra inches of rear seat legroom to an already spacious sedan. This vehicle also could feature rear doors that are six inches longer and making ingress and egress even easier. The six-inch extension is all achieved within the wheelbase so handling remains superior while ride quality is even more comfortable. In addition to all of the standard equipment and options featured on the 300 model of your choice, the 300 six-inch longer wheelbase project vehicle could include available amenities found only in ultra-expensive sedans or limousines. Reminiscent of the golden age of classic cars, when chassis manufacturers sent their finest products to custom coachbuilders for completion into luxury vehicles, the 300 six-inch longer wheelbase project vehicle would be masterfully crafted by a firm with a 128 year history of quality and prestige. Is it possible to extend inspiration? Is it possible to make the Great American Car even greater? We think so.

Not bad but it looks like they should have dusted under the seats before they took the publicity photos.

[balthazar]

I like the idea but a mere 6 inches hardly seems worth it. Many folk like others to know they're riding in a limo; this one is very subtle over a production 300.

[BrewSwillis]

These guys need a new photographer. The lighting sucks in every picture.

Lincoln makes the Executive L for the livery market, which is an extended wheel base version of the Town Car with six inches added to the back seat area.

lim·ou·sine  (lm-zn, lm-zn)
n.
1. Any of various large passenger vehicles, especially a luxurious automobile usually driven by a chauffeur and sometimes having a partition separating the passenger compartment from the driver's seat.
2. A van or small bus used to carry passengers on a regular route, as between an airport and a downtown area.

Just because a vehicle is a limousine......doesn't always mean it's a stretched limousine. Edited December 9, 2005 by BrewSwillis

[Drew Dowdell]

In unrelated news, my partner and I saw a Ford Five Hundred stretch limo today. It was actually fairly handsome.

[KaliRover]

Look's very handsome, I think it would look better if it was a tad bit longer... look's cool though.

[balthazar]

Just because a vehicle is a limousine......doesn't always mean it's a stretched limousine.

True BrewS, but there is the wheelbase neighborhood between stretched limos & factory sedans. Late '70s deVilles rode 121" wheelbases, the Fleetwood Series 75s rode 144". 23" difference yet the FS75s looked very elegant & 'factory'.

I find it difficult to call a factory car lengthened a mere 6" a "limo"....

[mute]

im still waiting for th strecth chargers to catch

[VenSeattle]

Who would really pay the money for this? I'm more interested in the rumored Imperial concept that will be on the stretched LX platform. Now that may be worth the extra money if Chrysler produces it.

[Flybrian]

It would an interior, say, 100x better than any 300s.

[Robert Hall]

Why saw a whole car in half just for another six inches? Why not just offer that from the factory?

[post="56516"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

A stretch 300 isn't something Chrysler can probably make a business case for manufacturing, but for a company like Accubilt it's their bread and butter.

[Sixty8panther]

Why saw a whole car in half just for another six inches? Why not just offer that from the factory?

[post="56516"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Very true... It starts to make sense at about 12" or so not 6". Just because I don;t need a 6 door funeral coach does not mean I would spend all kinds of money to get enough extra room to give me a tiny amount more legroom and enough etra space for a kid's lunchbox.

[zoomtm]

look at the leg room! looks like our PA :)