Chrysler to Double Its Model Count with a New EV

Matthew Guy
by Matthew Guy

This is a marque which will celebrate its centenary next year with only a single model on sale in its showrooms, showing up as the Pacifica and its numerous variants. Suits in corner offices seek to right this detail with an electric vehicle they will unveil early next week.

And, no, it’s not likely to be the Airflow – at least not the concept car which was looking all but production-ready over two years ago. It is alleged by some in the industry that certain company leaders wanted a do-over with that model, meaning the vehicle set to drop next Tuesday may not look anything like the handsome show car. There’s every chance in the world it will likely carry a fresh name, as well.


The hero shot at the top of this post doesn’t give us much to go on, though two more photos are promised before the car itself shows up next week. Yes, that means there will be a trio of teasers for a concept car which, by definition, is itself a teaser. Few companies play that particular game like Stellantis, it must be said. Hedging its own bets, Chrysler is calling the concept reveal an “advance look at one potential path” to the brand’s all-electric future.


That’s a heckuva lot of wiggle room for what’s actually in the pipeline. Saul Goodman would be proud. Nevertheless, one of the STLA platforms will surely underpin the forthcoming concept car, though we’d be pleasantly surprised if Chrysler engineers spill any beans about battery size or total driving range at this stage in the car’s development. One can hope. Same goes for the likes of horsepower stats and the like.


After sunsetting the burly 300 sedan, Chrysler showrooms could use an infusion of new product, though it has been some spell since there were any more than three different things on sale at at any one time (200, 300, and minivan variants).


Reaching back a bit further to just the late 2000s in the waning days of Cerberus, we find a variety of products including the Crossfire and PT Cruiser plus the Pacifica when it was a crossover and a Durango-based Aspen SUV. Buyers with families could choose the 300 or Sebring, not to mention the (then) ubiquitous minivans.


[Image: Stellantis]


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Matthew Guy
Matthew Guy

Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.

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  • Geozinger Geozinger on Feb 11, 2024

    "The 3rd option would be a more upscale Outback fighter but cautious because of the failure of the Buick Regal TourX. But that wasn't a bad car it was just priced and promoted wrong."


    What? When was the TourX ever promoted? I live in GM Country and if they ever promoted the TourX, it was very, very, very subtle. Maybe they moved one out of the way to get a better shot of an Enclave for a TV commercial.


    We have all kinds of oddball GM rolling stock around here, but I don't think I have ever seen more than two TourX in the last several years.

  • CanadaCraig CanadaCraig on Feb 15, 2024

    I won't buy an EV Chrysler sedan. But I might if that all-new Chrysler sedan had one of the Hurricane Straight 6 engines under the hood. It's silly of Chrysler to declare itself an EV-ONLY brand. Why box themselves in like that?

  • Mike-NB2 This is a mostly uninformed vote, but I'll go with the Mazda 3 too.I haven't driven a new Civic, so I can't say anything about it, but two weeks ago I had a 2023 Corolla as a rental. While I can understand why so many people buy these, I was surprised at how bad the CVT is. Many rentals I've driven have a CVT and while I know it has one and can tell, they aren't usually too bad. I'd never own a car with a CVT, but I can live with one as a rental. But the Corolla's CVT was terrible. It was like it screamed "CVT!" the whole time. On the highway with cruise control on, I could feel it adjusting to track the set speed. Passing on the highway (two-lane) was risky. The engine isn't under-powered, but the CVT makes it seem that way.A minor complaint is about the steering. It's waaaay over-assisted. At low speeds, it's like a 70s LTD with one-finger effort. Maybe that's deliberate though, given the Corolla's demographic.
  • Mike-NB2 2019 Ranger - 30,000 miles / 50,000 km. Nothing but oil changes. Original tires are being replaced a week from Wednesday. (Not all that mileage is on the original A/S tires. I put dedicated winter rims/tires on it every winter.)2024 - Golf R - 1700 miles / 2800 km. Not really broken in yet. Nothing but gas in the tank.
  • SaulTigh I've got a 2014 F150 with 87K on the clock and have spent exactly $4,180.77 in maintenance and repairs in that time. That's pretty hard to beat.Hard to say on my 2019 Mercedes, because I prepaid for three years of service (B,A,B) and am getting the last of those at the end of the month. Did just drop $1,700 on new Michelins for it at Tire Rack. Tires for the F150 late last year were under $700, so I'd say the Benz is roughly 2 to 3 times as pricy for anything over the Ford.I have the F150 serviced at a large independent shop, the Benz at the dealership.
  • Bike Rather have a union negotiating my pay rises with inflation at the moment.
  • Bike Poor Redapple won't be sitting down for a while after opening that can of Whiparse
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