The Sebring Resurrection. In China
I had a beer and a pizza yesterday night with Ash Sutcliffe of China Car Times (us expat car bloggers need to stick together) and he swore on a stack of bibles that he had seen the resurrection of the Chrysler Sebring over at Beijing Auto. But it won’t be a Sebring.
It will be a T8, being sold under one of BAIC’s brands. BAIC had built the previous gen Sebring to ho-hum success. When all fell apart between BAIC and Chrysler, they had a plant and tools on their hands, and they are making the best of it.
The launch of the T8 appears to be pretty much imminent.
Bertel Schmitt comes back to journalism after taking a 35 year break in advertising and marketing. He ran and owned advertising agencies in Duesseldorf, Germany, and New York City. Volkswagen A.G. was Bertel's most important corporate account. Schmitt's advertising and marketing career touched many corners of the industry with a special focus on automotive products and services. Since 2004, he lives in Japan and China with his wife <a href="http://www.tomokoandbertel.com"> Tomoko </a>. Bertel Schmitt is a founding board member of the <a href="http://www.offshoresuperseries.com"> Offshore Super Series </a>, an American offshore powerboat racing organization. He is co-owner of the racing team Typhoon.
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Let's stop being such snobs. The prev-gen (2001-2006) Sebring/Stratus wasn't bad. Not class-leading, certainly outclassed in North America, but not bad. If I lived in Russia, I'd be perfectly happy with one of those. Is the T8 what's going to replace the current monstrosity?
I hope our revamped Sebring looks this good! Looks like it's got a little Buick LaCrosse "sweepspear" action going on with the side. The headlights/grill are actually attractive, hope Chrysler mimics that A8 light treatment.
The retooled Chinese Sebring will do just fine - for the old Mitsubishi platform that it is.
These people will eat anything. I guess they'll buy anything, too. Price it low and watch it go.