The Devil In Project D

Edward Niedermeyer
by Edward Niedermeyer

Nothing in Chrysler's dated portfolio needs attention more than its Camcord-fighting D-segment offerings, the Avenger/Sebring. The March departure of the lead on the Avengbring replacement didn't bode well. Motor Trend now reports that Project D is heading for disaster, gobbling-up huge engineering and design resources. Chrysler's in crisis mode. Option one: an all-new platform. No money. No way. Option two: deploy an existing chassis (e.g. Nissan's Altima) and wrap it in new sheetmetal. Option C: rip off another automaker's work wholesale, a la VW Routan. Needless to say, these cop-out options will do nothing to improve Chrysler's rep for mediocre products. Then again a badge-engineered Altima might be better than what Chrysler can cobble together on a shoestring. Either way, with Project D seemingly doomed to mediocrity, what else can keep Chrysler alive? Hybrid minivans? Cherys? Government bailouts? Not good.

Edward Niedermeyer
Edward Niedermeyer

More by Edward Niedermeyer

Comments
Join the conversation
4 of 22 comments
  • Hwyhobo Hwyhobo on Jul 30, 2008

    They should go dig up Dodge Aries, as is, with the 2.2 and stick. Frugal and roomy. They haven't made anything better in 20 years. Kinda sad, really.

  • Ryan Ryan on Jul 31, 2008

    ???"mediocre products"??? Come on! KIA puts out a better product. Chrysler is the junk line of the United States.

  • Golden2husky Golden2husky on Jul 31, 2008
    Come on! KIA puts out a better product. Chrysler is the junk line of the United States.... A bit of a stretch...had you said "Chrysler interiors are the worst of most any car" I would agree with that. But the 300 series cars and all their iterations are not junk, nor is much of the Jeep line. The minivans are market competitive. The HEMI is not junk, even if it is a basic design. The Sebring, Compass, Caliber, etc, well yeah they are kind of Kia-ish...
  • Stingray Stingray on Jul 31, 2008

    I thought this was related to the japanese Initial D anime, maybe one new season :rolleyes: I read this yesterday... it sounded like bad news to me. I saw a Sebring here 2 days ago... it doesn't look that bad seeing its side. Proportions are similar to the Caliber... just with a trunk. Maybe a GOOD facelift, interior improvement and calibration change may take this car from "turd" to "acceptable". Don't get the point of doing an entirely new platform. Also, never got why they replaced the Neon with the Caliber. And why they abandoned the cab-forward design? Honda copied it in the Civic, and it was ok.

Next