What ARE we going to do, Chrysler?

300C?

 

The wife and I were driving back to Virginia Beach from Raleigh
yesterday and I happened to mention that Intrepids are no longer being
built. My wife said "What are we going to do when we need a new
car?!"

Yes, Chrysler, what are we supposed to do? We currently drive '95 and
an '02 Intrepids. Our prior cars have all been Dodge and Chrysler
sedans and station wagons going back to a '68 Barracuda. Station
wagons no longer make sense for our lifestyle. Similarly, we have no
use for a mini-van or a SUV.

So what says Chrysler Corp.? Are they suggesting (pushing, bullying)
that we move to Mercedes? That might push us places that we've never
wanted to go - like Accord or Camry. I'm hoping our Intrepids last a
long, long time!

Just wondering,
Jerry
--

 

I've got a nice low-mileage 300M I'm about to sell.

Cheers,

C

 

By the time you need a new car, I betcha the Dodge RWD sedan will be
available. I've got no special insider knowledge, I just know they're
working on one (or possibly more).

By the way, I think your Intrepids will last a *very* long time indeed. And
no, I don't think they're trying to push you into a Mercedes, the Dodge
brand is targeted at folks such as ourselves and it shows no signs of going
away anytime soon.

And remember, there's always the midsize (Stratus/Sebring) offerings.

--Geoff

 

I'm still driving my '73 Plymouth, and my wife her '93 LH. I don't see
that changing much in the future, unless we get a truck. Or that '73 New
Yorker I've been eyeing...

 

Intrepids are no longer being

What about the Concorde? Is that being discontinued as well? Or is Chrysler
simply saying "well, buy a Chrysler Concorde instead of a Dodge Intrepid this
time"?

Matthew

 

Hasn't the Concorde already been discontinued???

Cheers,

C

 

RE: So what says Chrysler Corp.?

Chrysler Corporation is and will be forevermore silent. Chrysler
Corporation ceased to exist on November 17, 1998. Chrysler can't say
anything because Daimler-Benz AG bought it, ran off the bulk of it's design
and management talent, and replaced it with "superior" German talent. What
bricks and mortar that haven't been closed or sold off are still there, but
what was Chrysler is now just part of a five year old enterprise named
DaimlerChrysler AG. (Note who's name is first in the GERMAN headquartered
company's name!) Auburn Hills, kind of a branch headquarters if you will,
lives and dies by and MUST conform to the wishes of Stuttgart. Many names
responsible for the product resurgence at Chrysler in the 1990's are gone
because they chose not to live like that.

Instead of attempting to maintain and preserve what had made Chrysler
successful, Daimler has swept through the company as if they had bought a
basket case in need of a rebuild. It has taken this long for the total
effect of the new ownership to present itself in the showroom because of the
lead time from concept to production in the auto business (which is much
longer under the European methods of management than by those pioneered by
the FORMER Chrysler Corporation), and the year or two Daimler took to
wrestle control in an attempt to make it look like the "Merger of Equals"
they claimed it was. Of course, doubters of that will point to the early
"financial losses", and the need for Daimler to do something. If that
argument is pursued though, one could say they have thrown the baby out with
the bathwater. Also, if you are not prepared for economic cycles, then why
are you in the auto business?

What can we do? We could buy what is made for us and ask no questions. But
that is why I was a Mopar Man in the first place. I didn't fall for the
Ford or GM line of old. And I just couldn't bring myself to buy an import.
That left me only one choice. And now that choice is gone. Those distinct
Chrysler design cues are soon to be forever lost. Oh sure there were big
changes at times in the past, but never before were they made by people
outside of the Chrysler Corporation, let alone from another existing
European automaker (One who thinks what the USA needs a good lesson in
Diesels, boxy bodies, and Station Wag, er, uh "Sport Tourers" (excuse me!).

One little thing I hate about the new products is that the interiors are
distinctly European, all squared off with the hazard lights button on the
center of the dash. Not what I expect in a Mopar. And RWD? What FWD
Mercedes could they have shared parts with? Even though older Mopar nuts
like me loved the old 1980 and prior RWD's, FWD saved the former company,
and the bulk of the former Chrysler's base (particularly in Northern
climates) love FWD Mopars. Remember, the merger was justified by economies
of scale through parts sharing (remember who's name is first!).

Anyone who has been cruising along thinking the landscape hasn't changed
will have to do some real self examination over the next few years. I wish
all of you luck in your personal journey into future. If you like what
Daimler likes, you're in luck.

 

I believe the entire LH line (300M/Concorde/Intrepid - LHS and Concorde
were consolidated into the Concorde a couple of years ago) has been.

Bill Putney
(to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my
address with "x")

 

Well, the wife still misses her '85 New Yorker. That car did have a
beautiful interior...

Cheers/2,
Jerry
--

 

What you're saying to people my age (60+) is "Wouldn't you rather have
a Buick?" :-(

Jerry
--

 

The final LH cars are at the dealerships now. The Front Wheel Drive
Intrepid and 300M, along with the Concorde are to be replaced with the Rear
Wheel Drive 300C Series and the Dodge Magnum Wagon. That's right, as of
right now, Dodge will only get a Magnum Wagon. "Sport Tourer" you know.
Very popular in Europe and we should learn to love them too. Can't keep
those Pacificas in stock either!

The fact that the Hemi can finally be installed in a passenger car is one
reason to greet them with glee. The fact that the original Chrysler 300Hemi
and Charger R/T designs which were supposed to accompany the Hemi IS NOT.
They are sitting in the trash can.

The "wagon only" situation at Dodge is great cause for dealer concern.
Knowing how Chrysler used to work, it shouldn't be that hard to make a
Magnum sedan from the 300. But according to Juergen, Dieter & Company,
making similar models from the same basic car is a no no. If the Hemi (R)
isn't enough to force the 100,000+ Intrepid buyers every year into a boxy
wagon, then bet next year a Magnum sedan arrives. If they can approve
everything fast enough to do it that fast. 30,000 Taurus wagons a year are
sold, and that number's been dropping every year. Better warm up the red
phone to Stuttgart!

 

Walter P. Chrysler, after leaving the Railroad, started his automotive
career at Buick, and left as head of manufacturing at that division.

 

Chrysler advertised the hell out of the Aries, Reliant, Lancer and 600.
Remember "9 out of 10 engineers picked the Dodge 600 over the Mercedes
300"?

Then along came cars that finally fulfilled the promise of the original
K-cars, had good build quality and up-to-date styling and could be
configured however desired, from bare-bones basic clear up to fast and/or
luxo...

....Anyone remember *any* ads for the Spirit, Acclaim, or LeBaron sedan
from '89 through '95?

Is another dumb vehicle name choice from Daimler. Magnum = condoms and
guns. Oh, and overweight, underpowered badge-engineered Cordobas.


DS

 

By the way, I don't know how many of you know that the Intrepid was named
after the U.S.S. Intrepid. The United States aircraft carrier that survived
multiple hits during WWII and is now sitting in New York as a floating
museum. An appropriate name for Chrysler's Import fighter, I thought, when
it was coined.

The Dodge Intrepid has a pretty solid name recognition. Doing pretty well
in NASCAR too! We would have killed for a car like it back when I was
selling 600's, Lancers and Aries. We can all speculate as to why the name
change to Magnum now. Not that I don't like Magnum. I just wonder?

 

As far as Chrysler's web site is concerned, there are 2004 Concordes, 300Ms,
and Intrepids for sale.

 

Sure, like Dodge ceased to exist as a corporation in 1928, for example.
History is full of former corporations -- Oldsmobile, Chevrolet, Buick,
Cadillac, Jaguar, Aston-Martin, Ferrari, Alfa-Romeo, Maserati, Lamborghini (I
think only Jeep has been sold as many times), Opel, Vauxhall, Audi, Saab,
Volvo, Citroen, AMC, etc.

Think Dodge owners bitched and moaned when Dodge was sold to Chrysler?

Perhaps at least they will know (1) how to not lose money and (2) how to make
quality cars.

Note that DaimlerBenz ceased to exist as a separate corporation then too.

And many more are working there now, designing tomorrow's Chryslers.

Oh but they did. They just are trying to get rid of things like taking more
hours and more employees to make a car than Ford or GM (to say nothing of
Toyota and Honda), of losing billions of dollars (easier to do when you're
part of a larger corporation than when you're standing alone), not plowing
money back into R & D (the LH cars are 10 years old, the Neon dates to when?,
the Grand Cherokee is from the 1980s...).

Considering Chrysler's financial status at the time, why wasn't it?

Chrysler didn't have the resources to weather losing money for long, though.

Another one who thinks everything made after a 68 Fury is junk?

So you hated cab forward in 93? That was sure a departure from Chrysler
design cues up to then.

Why not diesels? Why not large rwd sedans? Why not large rwd
wagons/cross-overs?

Gee, I'm sorry putting the hazard button where it's easily accessible has
turned you off to Chrysler.

And now tastes have changed. Heck, even GM is moving their large cars back to
rwd, and Ford never left that. FWD will stay on the smaller cars, where it
makes most sense.

 

Wrong. The LHS became the Concorde Limited, and all Concordes adopted the LHS
styling. But are you really unaware that Intrepids and 300Ms continue to be
sold?

 

But the Taurus wagon looks like a wagon. The Magnum, to be fair, really looks
more like a hatchback, like the old Saab 9000, say, or even the Lexus IS300
SportCross.

 

All I remember from any of that period was Lido's "Buy a car, get a check."