Why Chrysler Needs Plymouth - Chapter 12,658
This is how I see it; which will be my armchair CEO thought of the day.
(A stolen quote from Stratuscaster)
Every auto manufacturer should have a brand that produces the bread and butter / vanilla vehicles as well as produces vehicles that allow first time car buyers to be introduced into the company. With the death of Plymouth, a lot of these types of vehicles are making their way into the likes of Dodge and Chrysler which has the overall affect (in my opinion) of watering down these divisions.
Chrysler and especially Dodge, cannot be all things to all people. Each brand needs to carry or convey some sort of image. More times then not, it is this image that sells a product. Why else would some people buy a Viper over a Corvette? It is the image of higher class, aggression, luxury, and wealth to name a few, that helps buyers of products to decided.
This is one cause for the declining sales of Mercury, Lincoln, Saab, Pontiac, and Jaguar to name a few. There is no defining portrait or image that these automakers convey with their vehicles or in their advertising. Can someone tell me what Saab is? Are you buying a luxury car, sports car, are they masculine, will women adore my car, how did my math test go last week….wait I think I am getting off track here.
Chrysler needs to move upscale and compete against the likes of Buick or Mercury. It would be nice for them to compete again the likes of Lexus, Cadillac, Lincoln, but I don’t think that Chrysler has enough history of perfection or street credibility to do so at this time. However, I do think that Chrysler is getting close. The 300 is a great start, the Imperial would be wonderful, but if you remember when the Pacifica was first introduced…Chrysler thought they had IT…the consumer told them otherwise.
Dodge needs to sell sportiness, machismo, affordable muscle. There is no need for sub-compacts, intro-vehicles, or vanilla minivans. If they are going to make a minivan…give it some attitude, then may be more males will want to buy one.
Plymouth will fit the bill for the cars that the other two main brands will leave behind. The vanilla minivan, the affordable quirky functional PT cruiser, the Hornet with Plymouth clothes, Scion fighters to help introduce the youngsters to the fact that DCX is “cool.”
Well, that is my armchair CEO thought of the day.
