[hserus]

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/news...d-this-friday/

This is sad news to say the least. They do have Jeep and Dodge left but nothing much else from their glory days.

After reading Iacocca : An Autobiography when I was a kid this becomes especially sad.

[Hayek]

Well, the name is almost dead already - with just 2 products, the 300 sedan and the Pacifica minivan. They will almost certainly kill the 300 and perhaps rebrand the Pacifica as a Dodge (remember how the Pacifica’s predecessor - the Town and Country, had a Dodge version - the Grand Caravan). You could well see a 2019 or 2020 Grand Caravan based on the Pacifica.

[libranof1987]

What a pity; I drove the 200 and 300 extensively as rentals in 2015; with them, Chrysler had shown that it could come of age.

If this is true, it speaks volumes of how ruthless the American market is, courtesy the Japanese and Koreans and how far behind they have left American manufacturers.

Wonder what's next at FCA, as a company.

[blackwasp]

Rumour: FCA to discontinue Chrysler brand

According to a media report, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) will be pulling the plug on the Chrysler brand. This decision might be announced at FCA's investor day on June 1, 2018 in Balocco, Italy.

At present, Chrysler has just three models on sale in the USA - the 300 sedan, Pacifica van and the Pacifica plug-in hybrid. According to the 2014-2018 5-year plan, the company was supposed to launch the Chrysler 100 compact sedan - a mid-size crossover based on the Chrysler 200 - a full sized monocoque SUV and plug-in hybrid models based on the Pacifica's plug-in system. However, the company discontinued the Chrysler 200 along with its sister car, the Dodge Dart and instead focused on the Jeep Cherokee SUV and the Chrysler Pacifica, which share their platforms and many parts with the 200 sedan.

In 2016, FCA decided to concentrate on SUVs and pick-up vehicles over other segments like sedans for the North American market. The company decided to focus on brands like the Jeep, Dodge and Ram in the USA, which have a stronger presence in the SUV and pick-up segments.

At the 2016 Detroit Expo, FCA CEO, Sergio Marchionne had talked about the company's plans, including its commitment to passenger cars of the Dodge brand. However, there was no mention of Chrysler cars, leading to speculation on the brand's future. Further, the last time something about the Chrysler brand was spoken was in early 2014. The company had plans to use the brand to compete with Ford and Chevrolet. It had also told investors that it would have eight vehicles in its line-up by 2018.



Source - Automotive News

Link to the Team-BHP News

[amvj]

FCA now looks like Nokia brand. It is better to fire the Fiat CEO before he sells everything and shutdown the company.

[Nissan1180]

I have a quick question. Why would a company kill a brand instead of selling it? Even the Ambassador brand was sold to Peugeot. Why not allow other companies to use the brand?

[pganapathy]

I think killing off the brand is better than selling it. It allows the company to ressurect the brand at a later time if conditions are favourable. Plus, selling off a brand like Chrysler can affect the related sister brands.

[sunilch]

Originally Posted by Nissan1180

I have a quick question. Why would a company kill a brand instead of selling it? Even the Ambassador brand was sold to Peugeot. Why not allow other companies to use the brand?

I believe it is a simple case of the company not being able to sell off the 'Brand' for now. They will for sure retain the rights to it and then either re-use it at a future date or sell it then. No brand is killed. If it is a brand there will be followers and hence potential buyers.

-Sunil

[OrangeCar]

Oh.. the 300 had a stunning speedometer / tachometer dial. Like an aircraft!

And the minivan looked very small compared to.. say the Odyssey.

But I am sure Fiat will do a Nissan and make Chrysler a Datsun in the USA. Just not sure when!

Wonder what will the Chrysler building in NYC now be called?

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by sunilch

I believe it is a simple case of the company not being able to sell off the 'Brand' for now. They will for sure retain the rights to it and then either re-use it at a future date or sell it then. No brand is killed. If it is a brand there will be followers and hence potential buyers.
l

Agree. And it has been done numerous time in the car industry and others as well. Not quite sure how successful the resurrection of old brands typically is. Remember Talbot? In its hey-days a hell of a brand. Then it disappeared and was reintroduced in the early 80s without any real success.
Spijker is another example illustrating that having a well known brand from the past doesn't necessarily means success again.

Chrysler never managed to come up with appealing models for Europe and at the same time lost market share and its home market and other relevant markets. Without oversimplying what happened it's products simply did not appeal to the public at large. The company has been sold and sold again and again. If your read its history from the 70s onwards it's a miracle it survived this long!.

I for one has always been completely underwhelmed by the company and their products. They did manage to get hold of Jeep. Now, there is a proper brand, although personally I don't care much for their cars, other then the earlier Cherokees.

Jeroen

[CrAzY dRiVeR]

Originally Posted by blackwasp

Sergio Marchionne

A 120 year old company's biggest mistake.

He will soon bury all the iconic FCA brands alive - Chrysler gone, FIAT almost there - and is likely to be discontinued alongside the Chrysler brand tomorrow.

Alfa Romeo or Maseratti might face the music soon too.

[avira_tk]

FCA which needs to be renamed soon, is ditching the baggage. Chrysler is famous for badly built cars, no one's going to miss them. They are consolidating and trimming the portfolio, Jeep remains the top dog followed by Ram and Dodge in terms of volumes. Alfa and Maserati will play the luxury game, Alfa is doing OK for now with the Giulia and Stelvio in their honeymoon period.

Finally the group will be renamed DrJAM, hopefully people will forget about Fiat and Chrysler soon enough.

[volkman10]

Chrysler, Fiat, Dodge missing from schedule ( today) for FCA's 5-year briefing .

Plans for Jeep, Ram, Maserati and Alfa Romeo will be discussed.

It's unclear whether the lack of presentations for the Chrysler, Dodge and Fiat brands on the schedule may be changed before the event, or what the fate of those brands will be

The unpublished schedule, available on a company website for part of Thursday before being taken down, indicates that the automaker will lay out future plans for Jeep, Ram, Maserati and Alfa Romeo, but no other brands, as it did at similar events in 2009 and 2014.

Source:

[Yieldway17]

My first car was a Chrysler and always will have a soft spot for the brand. Literally abused the hell out of it and in spite of the brand known for its notorious reliability issues, it never failed on me.

If this news is true, RIP Chrysler! Bad way for an iconic brand to go.

[dark.knight]

I hope everyone can come to terms with the possibility that Sergio Marchionne is a mere puppet in this company, there are about 2 dozen people above him that jointly call the shots.

Those people are the Agnelli family. Within the Agnelli family is John Elkann, the grandson of Gianni Agnelli who controls the FCA. He is the CEO of Exor which in turn is controlled by the Agnelli family at large and Exor owns Ferrari, CHN Industrial (heavy vehicles manufacturer) and Juventus F.C (football team).

The Agnelli family have interests in banking, royalty, fashion, manufacturing, heavy industries, education, politics, share markets, private investment banking, and sports. Suffice to say that their joint net-worth will be a jaw-dropping sum that'll make the Forbes 50 look like a joke. They have CONSTANTLY structured, re-structured and optimized their assets in a way that was sometimes controversial but it always resulted in making them richer, more powerful.

Don't fall for the narrative, a portrayal of a king done by a fall-guy. Behind the scenes there is a shuffling of resources which would be enough to sustain a country. FCA is a meager portion of their income.