How Many New Cars Chrysler Will Debut In 2010? It Depends On Who You Ask…
As we’ve argued before here at length, Chrysler’s current “worst of the worst” predicament boils down to one word: product. And it’s not just that Chrysler’s current batch of products suck, there’s not much coming down the pipeline that shows any real promise. But that’s not stopping Auburn Hills from rolling out a new hype offensive, touting the awesomeness of Chrysler’s forthcoming 2010 lineup. Leading the charge is President and Vice Chairman Jim Press, who sees the Chrysler turnaround in historical terms. “For our company, we’re going to have a product renaissance in 2010 … just as the market is coming back,” Press is quoted as saying in the Detroit Free Press. “We’re not on the ropes,” he insists. “We’re not worried.” Why aren’t ya worried Jim? Because Chrysler’s going to be launching seven new vehicles in 2010, according to Press. Pinky swear. But then supply-chain philistine John Campi chimes in to promise “eight or nine” new Chryslers in the mythical 2010 model year. So which is it? Ask an analyst, and he’ll tell you that Chrysler is likely to have five new models for 2010: a new Jeep Grand Cherokee, a Dodge midsized SUV possibly called the Durango, a refreshed Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger, and a reskinned Nissan Versa. Ask the same analyst (in this case Erich Merkle of Crowe Chizek and Co) where Press and Campi came up with their numbers, and your expert will suddenly be out of answers. “Maybe there is some variant that you could start counting. There are ways to double-count some things sometimes. It’s a bit of a stretch,” admits Merkle. Possibly indicating what the Cerburian dog might pull out of its “product pipeline” in 2010, Jim Press is going after the Chevy Volt. Having shown three “post prototype” EVs to its dealer council, Press notes “We don’t have enough money for a PR stunt. All we have is enough money to build a car that we can sell.” Luckily Chrysler still has the Freep for fawningly credulous no-cost PR. After all, getting a Chrysler dealer to publicly admit that “I am more excited about their product line than I have been in years and years and years,” is surely worth some kind of consulting fee. Or ad revenue.
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Davey49: "The interiors don’t bother me at all. They’re usually well laid out and have lots of storage compartments. Feel doesn’t mean much to me. Color means a bit. The 1990s GM cars with the grey on dark grey was quite bland. I wonder what Chrysler cars has anybody that reads TTAC liked? It almost seems like they’ve insulted people personally by producing cars. It could be that people just hate everything." I'm sorry, but to claim that people are being harsh on Chrysler's interiors is just too much! When a Nissan Versa (SL) has more soft-touch surfaces than a Sebring Limited (that costs over $10 grand more), you've got a problem. Cheap plastics are mostly ubiquitous these days - but everything from the center console, door panels, and seatbacks are covered in stuff that wouldn't meet Fisher-Price quality standards. That's not subjective, that's just the truth. And just because material quality isn't a benchmark you subscribe to doesn't diminish that. My bro recently bought a year-old Sebring Limited to replace his wife's Pacifica. Ugh. Talk about faking smiles and compliments when you take it for a spin. The best part? It's starting to make noises while steering that sound eerily similar to their Pacifica before the steering rack (!) gave out. The Pacifica had less than 50k on the clock, and the Sebring is under 20k. Too bad he never listens to my car suggestions (Altima, Accord, heck Malibu). Aside from the pending mechanical issues, the interior is just plain cheesy. The gauges are made to look like some sort of aged paper and have indiglo backlighting. The analog clock is hopelessly plastic. The door panels are rock hard. Did I mention the plastic? Even with the leather, economy cars outclass this thing.
The confusion probably stemmed from the fact that hybrids of existing models at Chrysler are sometimes considered new models, and sometimes not. It's ridiculous, yes, but it makes sense because there's two hybrids that are supposed to be coming soon: A Ram Hybrid, and a hybrid version of the minivans. Hope that answers the question.