A Million Miles to Mid-Pack? Will the 200 and Avenger be Enough?

[Blake Noble]

A Million Miles to Mid-Pack? Will the 200 and Avenger be Enough?

10th October, 2010 by "black-knight"

Chrysler Corporation; out of our three major domestic automakers, it seems that the crew from Auburn Hills lead by a chain-smoking, beatnik Italian has the most to prove to the American consumer. Forget how people constantly deride GM with the "Government Motors" moniker for a moment, the simple fact is that ChryCo built some of the worst American cars of the last few years. Interiors were built from cheap dime-store Mega Blocks. Aside from the Hemi V8, most of the corporate engine line-up seemed to struggle to reach modern performance levels. Three quarters of the corporate line-up seemed to lack serious styling substance. Jeep introduced the Compass. The Neon was replaced with the Caliber.

I know all of that wasn't Chrysler's fault, though. If you're really privy to the automotive industry, you'd know that Daimler, Chrysler's previous European partner, simply wanted to use the company as little more than a glorified milk cow, giving it just enough sustenance to keep producing milk (milk meaning money in this case of course) for the greater good of the farm. That business plan carried out by the Germans at Daimler came at a huge cost for Chrysler, though. Eventually everything Chrysler was building was outdated as soon as it went up for sale and people were avoiding the product. Instead of getting milk, Daimler was tugging only to get a burst of dust and a few cobwebs.

So what happens when your prized milk cow quits giving milk? You take it to auction. When Daimler put good old Chrysler up on the block, it was bought by Cerberus who only further dragged the company to Hell.

To shorten a long story, Cerberus soon came to the realization that they couldn't run a major automaker, so they wanted out. Somewhere amongst the chaos, Chrysler went bankrupt and the good assets of the company were purchased by the U.S. government, who, in turn, brought in another group of Europeans to lead the automaker. This brings us to Chrysler as we know it today.

I don't know why, but I've avidly been watching Chrysler over the last few months. I suppose I'm curious if the company can really make a batch of really nice silk purses out of a box of crusty old sow's ears and so far, they have. The 2011 Charger is excellent, the 2011 Durango is excellent. The trucks are great. The Challenger is going to be a real monster for it's mid-cycle enhancement. Of course, ChryCo already had solid foundations to build on here (LX platform was great, the Ram has always been an excellent full-sized truck, and the Durango shares its basic specs with the new Jeep Grand Cherokee), so the work wasn't all that hard. The new V6 is excellent as well.

But ChryCo's bread 'n butter sedans, the Sebring and Avenger, are huge jokes. The Avenger is an awkwardly shrunken previous-generation Charger. The Sebring, well ... no one quite understands what that car exactly is other than a insane caricature of a mid-sized sedan. It's these two cars out of the entire corporate line-up that could use the most help.

Can Chrysler's mainstream twins be saved? That still remains to be seen.

We've seen some rather cryptic teasers from ChryCo regarding the new front and rear-end fascias of the new 200, the car formerly called Sebring. The styling updates draw heavily from the praise-worthy 300-based gasoline/electric-powered concept car of the same name. The updates look great, but how well will they mesh with what has been brought over from the old car? We haven't caught a glimpse of the new interior just yet, but it's a safe bet anything will be better than the current Sebring's. Blocky, cheap, and as inviting as the inside of your grandpa's chimney, the Sebring's interior is one on a list of many turn-offs about the current car.

The Avenger, though, doesn't seem like it is going to have the extensive redo that the Sebring -- err -- 200 ... whatever you call it, is going to get. Spy shots surfaced not that long ago only to show a mildly revised snout and some new butt-bling, and absolutely nothing regarding what changes have been made to the interior. Dodge's mid-sizer needs help just as much as Chrysler's and this leaves room for concern.

The competition will also be fierce. The upcoming Malibu will surely build on the momentum gained by the current iteration. The Sonata has strangely won over the hearts and minds of many buyers. The new Optima takes whatever the new Sonata has going for it and makes an interesting car out of that. Let's also not forget the Japanese teams have new mainstream sedans on the way as well.

I can only hope that Chrysler can turn les enfants terribles into well-mannered choir kids, but will it be enough?

Related:

Fresh teaser pics of the Chrysler 200

[loki]

we know what will power these cars? obviously some big 4 cyl. but will the v6 be a ...3.3? or what?

[Blake Noble]

we know what will power these cars? obviously some big 4 cyl. but will the v6 be a ...3.3? or what?

These cars should have a revised version of the 2.4L GEMA four-banger and either a 3.3 or 3.6L Pentastar V6.

Although I wouldn't be surprised to see a turbo 2.4 wind up under the hood of these cars ...

Edited October 11, 2010 by black-knight

[Intrepidation]

lol 3.3....

No, they will be powered by the new 3.6 PentaStar V6.

[loki]

lol 3.3....

No, they will be powered by the new 3.6 PentaStar V6.

i just kinda remembered the new engines few displacements....since the competition is phasing out their v6s... thought chryCo might be heading that way too?

[Intrepidation]

Yes Chrysler will be phasing out its other V6s for the PentaStar V6.

The 3.3 isn't used in any cars and hasn't been since the 1997 model year. The engines the current midsize cars use are the 2.7, and 3.5 V6s, although I think the 2.7 may have been dropped. In any case the 3.6 will take their place in the new cars.

[Blake Noble]

I thought Chrysler themselves said there was going to be 3.0, 3.3, and 3.6L Pentastar V6s when they released information in their Five-Year Plan? If so, a 3.3L V6 seems to make sense ...

EDIT: Checked myself. Yep. Seems there will be a 3.3L Pentastar V6 unless I'm reading the info wrong: http://www.allpar.com/mopar/phoenix-engines.html

Edited October 11, 2010 by black-knight

[MyerShift]

Yes, there will be more than just one displacement to the Pentastar V6. Of course, I hope that will actually help fuel mileage ratings for the smaller displacements versus being rated at about the same, as in the case of the GM 3.0L and 3.6L (only 1 mpg highway difference according to MSN Autos).

[A Horse With No Name]

Things are looking up for Chryco, thankfully!

[NINETY EIGHT REGENCY]

Poll: Will the 200 be enough to get Chrysler back into the family sedan game?

by Jeremy Korzeniewski (RSS feed) on Oct 12th 2010 at 8:00PM

Goodbye, Sebring, thanks for the memories... sort of. Sadly, most of the recollections we can muster that include Chrysler's mid-size sedan aren't ones we're particularly fond of – at least not when thinking of the nameplate's current generation, which debuted in 2007 to a chorus of boos amongst the motoring press and limp sales directly thereafter. Why? Taking lackluster driving dynamics and a disappointing interior out of the equation, the biggest problem with the Sebring has been that it's widely considered to be one of the least attractive sedans on the road.

And so it's with eager anticipation that we look forward to the introduction of the Chrysler 200 for 2011. The Pentastar brand has just pulled the covers (mostly) off its thoroughly updated family sedan, and for the most part, we like what we see, though admittedly it's a long way off from the more adventuresome 200C concept car that wowed Detroit Auto Show goers in 2009. There may be a few nits that need picking, however, starting with what seems to be a completely carryover greenhouse. Also, the fact that a four-speed automatic gearbox is still available on some models is a disappointment (though it's likely just for rental car-spec models), and we've yet to see the full interior.

We know there are a lot more specifics yet to be revealed, but the question that most needs answering today is whether or not you, dear readers, think that Chrysler has done enough with the 200 to differentiate it from the unloved Sebring. Take a moment to scroll back through the photos (click here if you want a quick refresher on the 2010 Sebring), then be sure to take part in our completely unscientific poll below. Finally, feel free to have your say in our 'Comments' section below.

Will the 200 be enough to get Chrysler back into the family sedan game?

It's gorgeous. Nicely done, Chrysler!

This is a major step in the right direction.

Looks familiar, but not too bad. Let's see how it drives.

It isn't differentiated enough from the Sebring.

Awful. Next!

link:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/12/poll-chrysler-200/

[Blake Noble]

Autoblog actually wrote the Reader's Digest version of my article.