By Robert Farago
August 1, 2008
In a not-so-stunning piece of preemptive PR– before the July sales data hits the fan– Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli has told his troops that more fuel-efficient vehicles are on their way. The Detroit News reports Nardelli's four-wheeled fuel-sipping cavalry could arrive as early as next year, "possibly including an unexpected model to debut next year." Less specifically, "You very well could see some new platforms, some new vehicles out next year," Nardelli told reporters at a dealership dedication. The aggressively conservative head of the ailing American automaker also took the opportunity to introduce a new euphemism. "We continue to reprioritize our capital," Boot 'Em Bob reassured. "To make sure we are responding to one of the most significant changes we see in consumer buying preferences to downsize and look for fuel efficiency." Will a previously-conjectured partnership with Italy's Fiat or India's Tata Motors or Japan's Nissan or France's Renault or the UK's Ultima [just kidding] deliver this much-needed Chrysler product or products? To quote a Disney movie I can't recall, Mmmmmmm. Could be. Or better yet, Bob himself: "Partnerships with other automakers could be part of those new product introductions." So now you know. Ish.
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POWERED
August 1st, 2008 at 10:39 am
I call BS. At Toyota, it takes nearly two years to tool up for a model refresh. Even if they are badge engineering a Nissan or (fillintheblank), tooling must be built, processes must be engineered, workers must be trained, etc. Unless this has been in the works for a while (but c’mon, we are talking about Chrysler here), there is no way there is any truth to this.
August 1st, 2008 at 10:42 am
Hey, maybe they are just dusting off the old Omni blueprints?
Maybe this has been Chryslerberus’ ace in the hole all along? Ladies and gentlemen, debuting at this year’s NAIAS: The K-Car 2.0!
August 1st, 2008 at 11:08 am
I agree with Ryan. They’re struggling for cash at the moment and the amount of money it’s allegedly taking to revamp the Sebring/Avenger platform means there’s no money left to burn through. I see bankrupt signs flying all over the place, but I’d love to proven wrong.
August 1st, 2008 at 11:22 am
It’s possible they could introduce a new model but only change the badge, leaving the rest of the car (including the grille, headlights, etc) unchanged.
So what will it be?
August 1st, 2008 at 11:32 am
I keep seeing random posts on the Globe and Mail(Canada ) from Chrysler dealers and advisors of new cars and quality and whole new plan. The posts are not professional quality but they seem to be very convinced of progress. The posts by the Dealer mentioned being shown new models and a definte plan of next few years. Why hasn’t the press dug into this a bit more? Or is this just private company internal spin to keep morale up? or are they trying to avoid the GM ADD press release syndrome ?
August 1st, 2008 at 11:52 am
I just came back from Mexico, and noticed that some Hyundai Accent’s were rebadged as a Dodge Attitude. The only thing that looked different was that the car had a Dodge badge instead of a Hyundai badge. Everything else was exactly the same. They could bring that up to the US rather easily I would imagine, since they already sell the Accent here. Could this be the car they will introduce?
http://www.dodge.com.mx/
August 1st, 2008 at 12:07 pm
It took VW only one year to come out with their version of the new Caravan. It has new sheetmetal but underneath it’s the same vehicle.
Chrysler could do the same thing with any number of Fiat/Renault/Nissan/fill-in-blank vehicles.
Why not turn one of your biggest millstones (thousands of extra dealers) into your your biggest asset? That’s how you “engineer” turnarounds.
August 1st, 2008 at 12:54 pm
@Liger: I went to your link and checked out the “Attitude.” Interestingly enough, when you go to the “Galeria” and click on the white vehicle, the badge on the back of it looks exactly like the Hyundai “H”. Seriously!
So Accent by Dodge it is!
And no, I’m not worried about Dodge brand losing value. I’m worried there won’t be a Dodge brand without this exact kind of a move by Chrysler.
August 1st, 2008 at 2:59 pm
Alot of late nights for the engineers over the coming months?
August 1st, 2008 at 3:26 pm
They didn’t even bother changing the badge on this one:
http://www.dodge.com.mx/frGen2Hoja.asp?Hoja=_dcn/dcn_fr_modelo.asp?ClaveGen=ATOS09
August 1st, 2008 at 3:57 pm
I noticed on some of the other cars what appeared to be a corporate logo pasted in. The Chrysler logo was straight vertically but the car was doing one of those “blurry poster turns”.
Man, the automakers need to address little details like that. Hopefully they put the a/c control knobs on in the right order too? Hook up the brake and clutch pedals to the right parts of the car? VBG!
August 1st, 2008 at 4:43 pm
Hey Dinu That is the funniest thing!!! LOL!!!! Great find!!
What a bunch of Marooooonssss!!!!
It’s no wonder our car industry is in such dire straits!
August 1st, 2008 at 5:09 pm
Hmm.. the link seems to have disappeared. Anyways… it was the H100 truck that has a Hyundai badge on it
http://www.dodge.com.mx/frGen2Hoja.asp?Hoja=_dcn/dcn_fr_modelo.asp?ClaveGen=ATOS09
August 2nd, 2008 at 3:51 am
For lack of a more eloquent (and less vulgar) adjective, I’ll preface my comment with this- The Dodge Neon SUCKED!
With that said, they were idiots to discontinue it thinking a 5-door small wagon/crossover-ish vehicle would be a suitable replacement. That was one of my first thoughts when I read about the Caliber replacing the Neon several years ago.
I bet that Tata, the Indian automaker, still has all the stampings and equipment to build the CityRover that was sold in the UK. Actually, I should say OFFERED for sale in the UK, after the death of MGR, there was a shipyard full of them abandoned…maybe they’re still there? I wonder if a Chrysler badge would fit over the Rover one? Or just use a butter knife to pry it off…
I’m being sarcastic, obviously, but it just occured to me that there are some parallels between MG/Rover and Chrysler….and the stories may end much the same…