Bipolar Mopar: A Struggle Called Chrysler Part II

A classic car connaisseur gives an overview of what started American luxury brand Chrysler's great decline, and how they tried and tried and tried to revive their once legendary name. We're talking about the ups and downs, like the aging K-cars, Lee Iaccoca's tenure, Bob Eaton's Daimler-Chrysler ideas, and the awesome bubbly Cloud Cars!

Hold onto your butts, because this is only part two of a two-part episode!

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Enjoy!

[DanielDiogeness]

you could make a episode like this based on mitsubishi

[mrdkr]

Stellantis just announced layoffs, 400 positions. Perfect timing for the video!

[michaelwalston]

To me, the fuselage era was the best.

I drove taxis in the 70s. We had coronets at yellow cab, furies at city cab, and my boss when the companies merged gave me a big 69 chrysler newport 4 door sedan to drive.

Kaiser/Willys survived in Jeep, where studebaker and packard were dead by 62, and nash/hudson/amc/eagle was gone by the early 90s.

And now it seems jeep may outlast chrysler.

[UncleJoeLITE]

Cheers Ed. Amazing how some young Dutch bloke has so nailed this niche.

[deadfishparty]

Chrysler should follow their history when times are tough and not just for them but everyone in general. The K car, the Neon. Make a small affordable car when almost no one else is. A civic goes for over $30k in Canada! Make a $20k car and people will come.

[ryanmasson]

Funny thing too, both the 300 and the minivan were built in Canada, so after the 200 died chrysler was only American in name lol

[crushbaseball]

US problems with each Main Stellantis brand:

1. Dodge- MSRPs are to high now for the average dodge customer and the jump to EVs completely destroys Dodge’s V8 legacy alienating their customers and subpar new vehicles like the Hornet that don’t fit the current identity of the brand that they have not successfully changed yet.
2- Jeep- MSRPs are too high now for the average Jeep customer, for some reason someone at stellantis thought turning Jeep into a luxury brand was a good idea, also bad/ no entry priced models.
3-Ram- MSRPs are to high now for the average Ram buyer, the prices got so high chevy and ford seem cheaper depending on trim. Also lack of updates/refreshes with the increases in MSRPs.
3-Chrysler- No models besides mini van

ALL BRANDS NEED TO IMPROVE QUALITY AND RELIABILITY TO JUSTIFY INCREASES IN MSRPS OR LOWER PRICES

That is what I could see are some problems

[drfalcon]

Damler Killed Chrysler, , then left it for dead, Walter P is spinning in his Grave

[Sharion.Inuyatt]

I honestly think a new PT Cruiser would save Chrysler.

Hey, that would be an interesting idea for the "What if..." series.

[zerocool]

It's sad, Chrysler is supposed to be like Buick or Mercury (RIP)
Now they're on life support, it probably has 2 years left.

[danr]

Chrysler has/is being slowly killed first by Mercedes, then Fiat and now Stellantis. RIP Chrysler.

[xitgrocgetter]

Chrysler had such a large innovative and diverse product portfolio back in the 90s. Starting with the LH cars, Neon, Cloud Cars, the Ram pickup, third gen minivans, second gen Dakota and Durango plus the new Jeep Grand Cherokee, second gen Wrangler and the successful Cherokee etc. Now they barely have a product portfolio to speak of.

[craigmclean]

Well...At least they brought back the square steering wheel in the new Airflow...Thanks, Ed, for this most-informative and entertaining overview of Chrysler!

[mbd]

Stellantis is truly a multinational corporation. It’s French/Italian/American, with German and British brands as well. And the whole corporation is headquartered in the Netherlands (surprising Ed didn’t mention that part).

[Vespuchian]

I worked for one of Chrysler's parts suppliers until recently and the unending frustrations with their inability to schedule supply deliveries, coordinate their own supply chain, and make any decision in a timely manner made it obvious the company was in terminal decline. It was clear that nobody in the driver's seat (pun intended) at Chrysler was looking at anything but the projected sales figures for the next quarter and not making needed changes to parts procurement that would have actually saved them money and maybe earned them more attention from FIAT.

We did get a chuckle over the merger into Stellantis, since many of us thought it sounded like a toothpaste brand.

[JohnnyGuiltyMan]

Not to mention the DOOMING over at the Dodge fanboy table now that the Challenger is dead and Charger went EV. I don't personally hate the new Charger, the retro style is spot on but they really should have given the option between the new EV drivetrain and a good ol' Hemi

[Henrytwm]

Chrysler presented some interesting concepts during the 00s namely the Imperial, ME12 but Daimler doesn't allow Chrysler to do so as they thought those cars will overshadowed their S-Class and SLR McLaren. There are many missed opportunities for Chrysler.

[mjboesberg]

Ed thanks for last week's thumbnail
My dreams are still haunted by a Lee-IacocCar

[rt_goblin_hours]

With how few Sedans there are just make a line of hybrid Chrysler sedan and wagons using classic names like cordoba and new Yorker

[johnneilson]

Sergio Marchionne worked very hard to put Fiat and Chrysler, et al on a solid financial footing; he was a money guy who knew what needed to be done for the long-term success of the brand(s). Unfortunately, his untimely passing changed everything. His vision is sorely missed.