Chrysler's China Syndrome

While Buick has helped GM become one of the top-selling firms in China, Chrysler is struggling to sell its own brand of Americana in the Middle Kingdom. Automotive News [sub] paints a dreary picture of Chrysler’s China operations, describing dealerships in glamorous Shanghai with “a sun-faded advertisement for the 300C peeling off the glass,” and a “rain-streaked shop sign above the main entrance (on which) the colors inside the Chrysler logo have washed out completely.” And between quotes from dealers bemoaning “not so good” recent sales numbers and the lack of Chinese production, AN finds plenty of blame to go around. Though Chrysler had an early inside line on the Chinese market thanks to its Beijing Jeep venture in the early 80s, the Daimler hookup proved disastrous to ChryCo’s Chinese ambitions. “Under DaimlerChrysler, Chrysler was only ever seen as the U.S. unit of a global company,” a Chrysler employee tells AN. “When it came to expansion into China, Chrysler’s needs took a back seat.” As a result, Chryslser sold only 8,207 300Cs, Sebrings and Caravans in China in the first six months of this year. Over the same period, General Motors China sold 261,443 cars and Ford Motor China sold 89,117.

And though the Chinese love Buick’s subtle yet unmistakably American look, Chrysler’s over-the-top styling isn’t winning many friends. “Chrysler has been the only company to make a U.S. vehicle without any changes to suit the Chinese market,” says John Zeng of Global Insight. Besides, if you think quality is bad on American models like the Avenger, imagine the same car built under license in China. Chrysler does have some opportunity in China, as many Chinese automakers are as desperate as Chrysler to find a foreign partner to improve their products and brand image. Unfortunately, as JD Powers analyst John Bonnel puts it “Chrysler has its hands full with problems in the U.S. They’ll find it hard to marshal the resources they need to build a business here.”