Chryslerfication, Dodge, and Plymouth

Chrysler loaned us a new PT Cruiser for a little while, and though we’ll report on it fully at ptcruizer.com, the one thing that struck me is how much the PT has become a Chrysler. The gauges are now Chrylser-style, the center clock is there, and the general interior look has gotten more, well, upscale. The scalloped headlights, which as far as I know are not preferred by anyone to the original teardrop headlights, are also there to bring home the Chrysler-ness of the new PT.

There is no doubt that the PT was meant to be a Plymouth, no matter what Chrysler said. Let’s face it, Plymouth Truck - or PT - is a label used for years on, well, Plymouth trucks, named PT this and PT that. Personal Transportion? Give me a break. Even though this is the same company that gave us the Acclaim, Aries, Neon, and Caliber, there is a limit to our credibility, and we cannot credit them with coming up with a name as ridiculous as Personal Transportation Cruiser.

The original PT was obviously designed as a Plymouth. It had the right price point (low for its segment), a Plymouth interior, and a Plymouth name. What’s more, why would they give Chrysler, which they were trying to “upscale” at the time, a new entry-level SUV? It didn’t make any sense. Dodge would have made more sense than Plymouth, but they were trying to mollify their Chrylser-Plymouth dealers by giving them a hot Chrysler even as they ended the Plymouth brand, which [ahem] sold better than Chrylser and quite probably had a better reputation for quality. Had it been us, the Chrysler brand would have gone, along with the word Daimler in any corporate names not related to Mercedes, until the company was ready to produce real Chryslers, which, aside from the 300C - and only the 300C - it has yet to do.

As for Dodge, well, Dodge suffered from the same basic fate as Mercury, Olds, and Buick: the loss of buyers’ ability to keep huge numbers of brand tiers separated in their mind, as each brand got a full line of vehicles from dressed-up base models to dressed-down luxury models, and of course SUVs which were all pretty much the same except for options and price tags (drive an Escalade and a Suburban, and see what I mean. Even the Lexus SUVs are not well differentiated from Toyotas, excluding their sheer mass of gadgetry).

Dodge used to be a mid-tier brand, and they pretty much stopped being that when the Valiant moved to the Dart wheelbase. Even then, the difference was largely superficial: a few extra inches of wheelbase and a different grille and tail treatment. Dodge merged down into Plymouth and up into Chrysler at the same time Chrysler was moving down with the Cordoba and Plymouth moved up with the Fury. A more long-sighted management would have kept Chrysler upscale, even with the Cordoba, sacrificing a few sales for brand equity, but that was something they really could not do at the time. They were sinking into bankruptcy, and that was their excuse. Iaccoca’s excuse was the same, though after the debts were paid, he should have given some thought to the brand structure.

The current system, on paper, makes sense. Chrysler is at the top, filling the place Dodge used to have, namely, not-quite-luxury-but-almost-there, not being luxury because Mercedes has that role in the corporate hierarchy. That’s OK, because Chrysler has not had a true, successful luxury brand. Ever. Imperial was luxury and could beat the best of the rest when it was made, before 1969 and arguably even through 1973, but it was never a real success, never sustainable, never a threat to the market leaders - Caddy, Lincoln, Mercedes, etc. - even as it beat them in just about every way, the sales were never there. So, we hate to say it, we can live with Mercedes taking the Imperial position in the Chrysler hierarchy, and Chrysler itself being the car that beats Mercedes’ lower vehicles in every meaningful way, for 20% less money.

Dodge makes sense, too, on paper. The place for Dodge no longer exists; Americans think in terms of luxury or non-luxury brands, that is, Honda/Acura, Toyota/Lexus, Chevy/Caddy, Ford/Lincoln, Mini/BMW, Hyundai/Kia/etc vs Mercedes/Rolls/etc. Unfortunately with Chrysler Group, every brand is non-luxury, though Jeep and Ram have a certain cachet. So Dodge has been recast as big, bold, and American, which is just fine and fitting with the Ram, Hemi Charger, etc. That does however leave a bit empty spot where Plymouth used to be - Plymouth, the Toyota of American cars at one time, known for its dull reliability and low-priced engineering sophistication. Plymouth’s place in the American perception has long been taken over by Toyota, but where does this leave the cars that don’t fit into the corporate scheme? PT Cruiser is hardly aspirational, though it is a terrific car. Minivans are one big question - big and bold minivans? Perhaps, but it’s a niche, and that’s not good for the world’s biggest minivan producer. For Chrysler, having a brand that sold just minivans would pay off, especially if it meant that Chrysler itself would not be selling minis that were a step down from a Dodge mini! (Yes, we’re back to the point where an optioned Dodge can be far above a base Chrysler.) Then there’s the Caliber, which really should only be sold by Dodge in big and bold form, not in base-engine form. The real crime is the 2.7 liter Charger sold to fleets!

Chrysler needs a brand for their ordinary mass-production staples - the minivans, the economy cars, the family cars. We’re told they’ll introduce such a brand - but it absolutely won’t be called Plymouth. That’s really smart on their part (pun might be intended) - after all, why answer the calls of your own buyers and fans, and reinstate a brand that already has loyal customers, and show that you are responsive to your customers, when you can alienate yet more people and start from scratch again?