Chrysler group set to kill off its Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebringcoupes

http://www.autoweek.com/news.cms?newsId=101450

Chrysler group set to kill off its Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebring
coupes

MARY CONNELLY | Automotive News
Posted Date: 12/20/04

DETROIT -- The Chrysler group will abandon nearly all two-door
vehicles after the 2006 model year, says Trevor Creed, senior vice
president of design.

The Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebring coupes are expected to go out
of production at that time.

"If you do a two-door, people say it looks sportier but that a
four-door is more practical," Creed says. "There is no market for
two-doors."

Chrysler will continue to offer a two-door Sebring convertible, Creed
says, adding that "impracticality" already is built into a
convertible.

Chrysler does not break out coupe and convertible volume when it
reports Sebring and Stratus sales.

Through November, Stratus sales totaled 91,299 units, down 2.1 percent
from the same period a year ago. Through November, Sebring volume
reached 95,672 units, up 4.4 percent from the same period in 2003.

The Chrysler group is redesigning its mid-sized vehicles for the 2007
model year. They will be derived from a platform developed with
Mitsubishi Motors Corp.

A sedan and a convertible are expected to be the first two offerings
and likely will be sold as Chrysler-brand cars. Dodge is developing a
five-door hatchback.

The Sebring and Stratus coupes are built at Mitsubishi's Normal, Ill.,
assembly plant. The Chrysler group's contract with Mitsubishi to
produce vehicles in Normal expires in 2005.

The Sebring and Stratus sedans and the Sebring convertible are built
at Chrysler's Sterling Heights, Mich., assembly plant.

 

<yawn.> Will anyone miss them? I think I miss the Omni and Horizon more
than I'll miss those generic bland-mobiles. To me, the Cirrus, Stratus,
and Sebring have always represented the worst of trying to out-Japanese
the Japanese makers. Boring, soulless, insipid, generic people-movers.
Even the Sebring convertible has little to recommend it- if it had ever
had some real power and maybe a 5-speed, it might have been a different
story.

 

yahoooo! those cars are a pile of shit

 

How so?

 

oil leaks . wheel bearings, cheap interior parts that break when cold
abs units, 4 cy. headgaskets creaking windows and the blower resistors

 

These flaws apply to most vehicles.

Did you experience any of them on your Dodge Stratus/Sebring Coupe?

 

The segment is the inexpensive mid-size car segment...which is a large part of the market. People that buy this level of car is looking for something inexpensive and doesn't have a high level of expectation because of that (exceptions exist)

I had a 2003 Chevy Malibu LS. Trust me, the Stratus (my wife has) and the Sebring (that I have that I bought to replace the Malibu) is a MUCH better car compared to the Malibu. It's much quieter, less road, suspension, engine and wind noises, smoother riding, doesn't leak every time it rains (although after 5 days the dealer did get the Malibu leaks fixed). The HVAC controls don't "feel" as cheap.

It's a inexpensive car for a market of people looking for "average" rides. So for that market, I'd argue that they are perfectly acceptable!

 

I've seen specially-optioned Sebrings in dealer showrooms that had
better interiors than 300m's, and cost practically as much.

The condensation of the Chrysler car line continues.

 

...............and so does your continued griping....................!

 

Hardly! I don't know what "sticker's" you've been looking at. But a decked
out Sebring can be had for the low $20's (low-end for around $16K). I paid
~$21K for my 2004 and it's a LXi with leather seats, sunroof, auto-stick,
and several other goodies. A decked out 300M you're talking low $30's, at
least!

Which is not a good idea. Toyota surpassed Chrysler by making 500 different
SUV models and 800 different car models, then threw in a couple hundred
truck models for good measure. Of course an exaggeration, but Toyota has
been *adding* models with over 20 different model vehicles now I believe.
If Chrysler kills the Stratus/Sebring without replacing it with something
for that niche, that market will have no choice but to go elsewhere
(Probably to Toyota or Honda).

 

Unfortunately, they have pretty much already gone.

 

part of the market. People that buy this level

of expectation because of that (exceptions

Yep - most of those sorts of people have discovered that they can buy a 2-3
year old high-end car
that has come off some idiot's lease, that is a better car for the buck.
Few of them are looking for new
cars. With the 0% financing and all that, the higher-end market has been
hopping, causing a huge
number of nearly new used vehicles to hit the used market.

The mid-size market is also being chewed into by the low-end, like the Kia's
and crap like that -
some of those former midsize buyers are now going econobox shopping.

Ted

 

you just described every older 4 cyl!!!
oil leaks . wheel bearings, cheap interior parts that break when cold
abs units, 4 cy. headgaskets creaking windows and the blower resistors
:

How so?

 

James C. Reeves wrote:

I have NO doubt of that. But saying that a JA-body car is better than a
Malibu is the textbook definition of "damning with faint praise."

 

I see quite a few Stratuses and Sebrings here. But, you're right in that
there are more Camrys and Accords (lord the new Accords are ugly!) in
comparison.

 

I guess I just like that model vehicle. In fact the wife just got back from
a road trip to Arkansas in her 2003 Stratus (~18 hours each way) and praised
how comfortable the car was and how well it performed in the Appalachians
and Smokies. And she exceeded 30MPG overall. Seems hard to beat to me!

 

I don't know many perople that buy used cars, having had a unusual amount of
bad luck buying other people's problems. Perhaps the cars these days hold
up better to those people that buy a new car knowing that they will be
trading in off in a couple of years so never spend the $$$ to do the
maintenance. (which is where most used cars seem to come from in my
experience)

 

Have you ever sat in the latest Accord? Visability not much better than the
Chrysler 300.

 

Every time I am in a Stratus (loaner or rental) I am favorably impressed.
Might be low expectations because of unfavorable reviews. I know others who
feel the same way.

 

I think the new Accord looks worse than the 300....and that's pretty bad!