Killing off Dodge cars
The Wall Street Journal caused a local uproar by printing a rumor that Dodge cars were on the chopping block, leaving Dodge with wagons and SUVs, and Chrysler with cars. That’s an interesting rumor because it corresponds with an old Daimler plan, the one that brought us Magnum and Caliber, but not Intrepid (which finally came as the Charger) or Neon. (Chrysler has, incidentally, fully and vociferously denied it.)
We’re not sure whether this is a serious plan of action or not. If it is, it should be considered proof that the people at Chrysler really have a hard time understanding their jobs, especially with the Challenger buzz, the Charger gaining credibility, and the Caliber not quite the roaring success it was meant to be. It would also be the death knell of any Chrysler upscale aspirations, unless…
Regulars know where I’m going with this, but it would allow Chrysler to carry out the plan of making Dodge essentially a “truck/brute performance” brand – Charger, Challenger, and trucks – which it’s becoming anyway, with the Avenger being ignored by the market and the Caravan actually falling below the Town & Country for the first time ever. The missing piece would take over the everyday cars – Caliber, Avenger, V6-powered LY car – and let Dodge go with the macho routine and Chrysler slowly float upscale, freed of its inherited Plymouths (Town & Country, PT Cruiser, and Sebring sedan).
Chrysler’s actions will, to many people, show its owners’ intent. Drop Dodge cars, and the remaining loyalists can go on to GM with a clear conscience, knowing that Cerberus plans to strip-and-flip or just plain strip. Add Plymouth – not DeSoto, not Hudson, not Azcor, not Zoomie, not Harcker, but Plymouth – and they show that Chrysler does indeed care (for once) about its owners, its heritage, and its future. It would also show that at least one person in the hierarchy actually understands Chrysler’s brand images – and has some grasp of history. Then the remaining loyalists can bring more people into the fold, assuming, of course, that quality continues to rise, and that the product is there – and not something we’re reluctant to invite friends into.
dont drop Dodge cars! there the traditional best sellers now a days for Chrysler.
Just dont offer them with as much equipment as the Chryslers’. like dont offer leather seats… and detune the engines that go into cars,trucks,suvs, and minivans that are to be badged chryslers. Make dodge and jeep share engine output only.
and no power stow’n'go on the dodge minivans, basically build Chryslers with NO options, just fully loaded! and dodges in pacakges…duh.
Detune? Ack! Too much competition. No, I’d argue, along with many others, that Chrysler would be better served by being Infiniti-like: high end only, standard leather and big engines, more sound insulation, softer tuning (I. doesn’t do that, I know) – and no cars under $25,000. Nissan, Toyota, GM, etc all keep the same engine power on low and high end vehicles – they just tend not to offer the low-end engines on the high-end vehicles.
slightly detune engines destin for chrysler vehicles. by say 15hp and 10tourqe. or tune engines in dodge and jeeps to make 10hp more. dodge is preformance… jeep is ruggad suvs.
Kill Dodge cars and bring back Plymouth for lower end product, and add a performance line to them, a la ‘Fury’. Dodge becomes the GMC of Chrysler, Chrysler cars are upmarket luxury-performance, like Buick and Cadillac, Plymouth is the Chevy/Ford fighter, and Jeep is strictly off road, luxury and economy. Right now Dodge is too spread out, trying to be everything to everyone. Besides their product mix is skewed towards trucks already, I believe about 70/30, but I could be mistaken. Better to give the cars to a revived Plymouth and leave the trucks to Dodge. Now you have a superstore dealership with all 4 brands under one roof and virtually NO product overlap, except in platforms, engines, transmission, which you want anyways.
use the same old formula that used to work.
dodge builds mid-line cars and all trucks.
chrysler is top of the line uber luxo.
plymouth is bottom of the line with some options… but none that are avlable on dodges… or chrysler.
jeep… well get rid of the car based ones. and then that works.
duh!