While Chrysler is dying, how is Dodge doing???
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Guess what? It’s dying too!
Thanks to Sergio “car brand killer” Marchionne.
Look at their line up!
Already 3 out of these cars are dead. They’re only selling dealer left overs. The Dart, Grand Caravan and Viper. All dead.
And what’s left is in a retirement home. Let’s take a look at these poor souls:
– The current Charger came out in 2011. So it’s already 6 years old.
(All we’ve see lately is super powerful muscle car versions with too much power and stupid names.)
The keep floating around rumors about a brand new one using the Alfa Romeo Giulia platform. Maybe in a couple of years
Sure. Right….
Since all development money seems to only go to Jeep and Alfa SUVs, I don’t think we’ll ever see a new Charger.
– The Challenger is now 9 years old!
Sure, it still looks good. But almost 10 years!
(Also, Ford sells about twice as many Mustangs every year.)
Same thing here. More and more powerful engines. That only very few people will ever want.
Nothing new.
And again, the tease of a new one “soon”. They even floated the rumor of a smaller/cheaper Barracuda model coming out soon. Coupe and convertible too!
They even showed prototypes to dealers a while ago.
Of course Sergio will show cool prototypes to dealers and great stuff coming “soon”.
A classic con. Otherwise how many would keep a Dodge franchise these days if they knew for sure nothing new is coming…
– The Journey. That poor thing never got really good reviews when it came out.
Back in 2008. Again, almost 10 years old!
Again, no replacement in sight.
-The Durango, that poor guy. This has actually got pretty nice reviews when it came out.
Which is 7 years ago.
I think it still looks good. And with an SUV crazy market you would think it has a chance.
They sold about 68 000 of them last year.
(while Toyota sold over 190 000 Highlanders…)
The whole line up is sad and old. Every single model is about the worst choice you could make in their respective categories.
An only vague rumors about their future.
I will say it again, I think Crazy Sergio is just out to enrich himself and the stock holders. And kill Chrysler and Dodge. Just like he did with Lancia.
Trying desperately to dump the whole thing onto another brand while profits are good and make a few millions.
A sad story…
Ok.
You just might be on to something here. It really is quite sad. I remember going to the old Chrysler/Plymouth/Dodge dealers with my dad and test driving the Town and Country conversion van from the early 90s. I wanted him to get it so bad. I was too young to appreciate the fact that he couldn't afford to buy it. And the fact that they weren't the most reliable things in the world. My mom taught me how to drive in a rented Plymouth Neon. We rented a 90s Chrysler New Yorker for a road trip and loved every bit of it. My bro rented a 2000s Intrepid, and he drove the hell out of it. When I was old enough, I rented a Chrysler 300 and had a blast driving it, even with the V-6. Generally speaking, I really liked Chrysler cars. It's a shame it's been allowed to die like this.
Dodge does not need to get re-design cars since they are still selling well! It cost money to do the new models. Why do it if it not broken, right? Dodge just needs to do what it doing by refresh it every 5 years and between that time offer new editions with new colors. I think Dodge could string out each model to around 25 years if done in a sensible manner! Chrysler just does not have the money to do new models for Dodge. They need to put it into Jeep first!
So, do the Grand Jeep Cherokees still nee replacing transmissions after 60k miles?
The Durango is the same age and built on the same bones (stretched out) as the current Grand Cherokee. If the Grand Wagoneer ever sees the light of day, the Durango is a goner. If that vehicle never arrives, when the Grand Cherokee finally gets updated to a new platform/new bones, the Durango is sure to be a goner. No matter what it seems the days are numbered for this vehicle. Pretty sad. In the meantime, if you like the Grand Cherokee but need room for 7, the Durango is Not a bad way to go.
FCA has their whole lineup in every brand messed up. You walk into a Dodge/Ram/Keep/Chrysler dealer and even with 4 brands you don't have a complete lineup!!! It's insane.
FCA needs to kill Chrysler and Fiat, merge Ram back into Dodge, and sell Maserati to Ferrari. Then they would have Dodge as the volume brand, Alfa Romeo as the luxury brand, and Jeep as the SUV/CUV brand. Dodge and Alfa can share platforms. Chrysler and Foat have no brand identity anywhere in the world. At least Dodge, Alfa and Jeep share the love of driving/sporty DNA, just coming at it from different angles. Dodge is American muscle/patriotism, Alfa is Eurosport luxury, and Jeep is sporting/outdoorsy.