I think I’m right in saying that the current Sebring was supposed to ape the 300, in the same wa that the Avenger looks like a mini-Charger.

Let’s see…a near luxury brand desperately trying to emulate the established brands and differentiate itself from relentless Asian FWD comptitors…what to do…what to do…

It’s not like the 3/5/7 Series playbook is all that hard to understand.

If Chrsyler had not slapped the Cummins Diesel in the Ram, then it would have been a miracle to see 50,000 trucks sold. The old body was lacklustre n design. When the new bodystyle came it looked much better.

Chrysler could have slapped the 4BT diesels in their bgger sedans too.

Yes it could (or is to be exact). I don’t know for sure but I suspect it does not meet US emissions regulations, and it sure as hell doesn’t meet safety standards. At least the Sebring/Avenger scored pretty good on the IIHS crash tests – I believe on one test (rear impact?) they scored better than Malibu, Aura, G35, Altima, and Galant. And IIHS test standards are more stringent than those NHTSA uses.

http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/iihs-rates-malibu-avenger-g35-optima-galant-aura-and-altima-safety/comment-page-1/

You can see photos here:

http://www.racewaynews.net/galleria.php?a_id=1169&photo=1

Slap a Chrysler grill on it and start pilling ‘em high and selling them cheap. That is the Nardelli/Home Depot way, yes?

Being the smallest of the big three Chrylser has never had the resources to have a competitive iron in the fire in all market segments at the same time. If they had not bought AMC/Jeep and Gulfstream and Lambhorgini (!) with the minivan profits they could have had enough money but then they would not have had Jeep. And in the 90’s they had the $10 billion for product development but along came Jurgen Schremp and wunderbar! it was gone. So historically Chrysler has had to pick it’s battles when it comes to product development. So in the late 80’s they were well aware that they were deficient in pickup trucks, but they had to wait as the development money was being spent elsewhere. The actual sales numbers were worse thean you stated – in 1993 sales of the Ram were about 100,000 units. They were roughly equal to the GMC division. When the new ram came out they went from ‘nowhere’ to 400,000 units.

The Cirrus/Stratus/Breeze triplets were very competitive with the camcord (Actually the the Accord more than the Camry at that time) when they were introduced. My wifes grandmother who was a Honda devotee and purchased TWO (one for her and one for my monther-in-law) every time a new generation was introduced could not believe how nice my Dodge Stratus rode and handled, and the functionality of the interior layout. She had at that time the 94 Accord. When the next gen Accord came out it was better but that’s what you would expect. When the next gen Stratus came out I rented one. By that time Daimler had taken over and mucked up Chrysler’s design processes and the car wasn’t as good as my first gen. I didn’t like it at all.

“With their increasing collaboration with Nissan, I suppose all they need to do rebody the Altima and be done with it.”

They have reasons not to take that easy route. For one thing the are thinking about creating a “lifestyle” light duty AWD/FWD pickup truck from this platform. And they aren’t the only ones considering this. The thought is that people who need a full size truck will buy one but those who need to ocasionally haul stuff or transport the cycle/ATV/tow the bass boat will buy this kinda of vehicle.

Early indications are that they will have 6 speed as base tranny with the new dual clutch for premium models. New Phoenix V-6’s will also fill the engine bays on the upscale stuff, not sure what they are going to do about their 4 banger, due to budget constraints most likely are going to tweak the World engine for max MPG and reduced harshness. Look for the CVT to get dumped as well.

They sold as many as that ? As much as it seems you’d need a frontal lobotomy to consider buying a Camry or Accord, you’d need to have a whole hemisphere (or two) removed before even looking at Chrysler’s offerings. That means one in five people thought the Sebring or Avenger was better than an Accord or Camry, unbelievable !

Succeeding in the midsize market is easier said than done, analysts said. Chrysler crosstown rivals, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., have had mixed results

And Ford and GM have the advantage of European operations who specialize in that market segment, even if they fail to leverage them fully.

While Chrysler is aiming for global sales, any successful midsize car must also be a hit in North America, which accounted for 91 percent of Chrysler’s 2007 sales.

The sooner all three of Detroit’s carmakers start to design and build for global markets, the sooner they’ll pull themselves out of their death spirals. The self re-enforcing “American’s don’t want …” marketing strategy of the past few decades has led them down the path to oblivion, while the Asians just dance around globally in a sea of profits.

A fresh design theme is needed ASAP.

DT