Resurrecting Plymouth

The acquisition of Chrysler by Cerberus offers a golden opportunity for the resurrection of Plymouth. But in order for the resurrection to succeed, it is important to understand the reason for the division’s death. Plymouth ceased to exist as a genuinely distinct entity many years before Daimler-Chrysler made its death official. Plymouths had become nothing more than Dodges wearing different badges and a few minor, essentially cosmetic differences. Anyone who wanted a Plymouth could get essentially exactly the same vehicle by buying a Dodge instead.

Contrast that with the situation my parents saw when they bought the car I grew up with in 1968. Back then, a person could go to a Dodge dealer and to a Plymouth dealer and see two clearly different (albeit closely related) lines of cars. The Plymouth Belvedere my parents bought had different sheet metal from a Dodge Coronet, was very slightly shorter and less spacious, and cost a little less. The existence of both Dodge and Plymouth gave customers a real, meaningful additional variety of choices.

If Cerberus wants to revive Plymouth, and I very much hope they do, they need to do far more than just put Plymouth badges on Dodges. They need to take advantage of Chrysler˙s advanced, flexible manufacturing technology to make Plymouths different from Dodges in much the same way that new-generation Chryslers and Dodges are different from each other, and that the Jeep Patriot, Jeep Compass, and Dodge Caliber are different from each other. Then Plymouth can genuinely add something to Chrysler˙s offerings instead of just giving customers a chance to buy the same thing with a different nameplate and grille. People can go into a Chrysler-Plymouth dealer, look at the Chryslers and at the Plymouths, and see genuinely different cars.

Further, Plymouth could go back to offering a full line of cars, from small to full sized, without creating a problem that the Plymouths and Chryslers appear almost identical. The Plymouths wouldn˙t just be a cheaper trim line of essentially the same cars as the Chryslers. They would be distinct cars, with different styling and personalities.

So what could a resurrected Plymouth offer? There are two basic directions that Plymouth could go and offer something clearly distinctive.

One direction would be to offer styling that is more conventional and less aggressive than what Dodge generally offers. Dodge would be the division that pushes the styling envelope in order to pursue customers who want a car that looks different, while Plymouth would appeal to customers who are less fond of Dodge’s aggressive styling and are unwilling or unable to pay the cost of a Chrysler. Granted, that image is not necessarily what die-hard fans of the old Plymouth muscle cars would really prefer. But it would be a good way to use a resurrected Plymouth brand to reach customers who are choosing to buy from other automakers instead of buying Dodges.

Another possibility would be to take advantage of Plymouth˙s death and resurrection as an opportunity to offer an entire line of cars with a unique styling flavor all their own. For example, Plymouth could offer a line of cars that mix “retro” elements into their styling, not necessarily to the same degree as the PT Cruiser, but enough to make Plymouths clearly distinctive. If such a strategy would succeed, it could bring in large numbers of customers who would not have bought a Dodge or a Chrysler. And no one could possibly claim that the Chryslers and Plymouths in a Chrysler-Plymouth showroom are essentially just different trim levels of the same car.

Either of these approaches would do far more than just bring back the Plymouth name. It would give Plymouth a clear reason for its existence, making Plymouths distinctive cars again instead of just Dodges wearing different nameplates.

Bringing back Plymouth as a clearly distinct line of cars is almost certainly the best chance Cerberus has of expanding Chrysler˙s market share. Chrysler would get the best of both worlds: an established brand with some loyal customers and a long history behind it, coupled with an opportunity to offer customers a wider variety of choices than they do now. If the strategy is executed properly, the death and resurrection of Plymouth could ultimately make the Plymouth brand much stronger than it was at the time of its demise.