Oh, Chrysler. You used to be an industrial giant. You were one of the Big Three. Now you’re a shell of a brand with precisely one minivan and zero cars to your name. The classic cry has been made once more. Won’t somebody come in and save Chrysler?
This time, it’s Frank Rhodes Jr. calling out for help. If you haven’t met him, he’s a concerned citizen, but more specifically, he’s the great-grandson of Walter P. Chrysler himself. In a “Letter To The People” posted to Mopar Insiders, he shares his love of the brand, his personal connection to Chrysler’s founder, and a forthright plea for help.
As Chrysler nears its 100th anniversary, it finds itself in a weird place. On the one hand, it’s a part of the broader Stellantis stable—which is both enormous, and profitable. But as for the Chrysler brand itself? It’s teetering on total irrelevance, and has been for some time. It’s this dire situation that has Rhodes Jr. calling for change.
Somebody Save Chrysler!
Rhodes Jr. has been on this crusade for a long time. The Seattle Times famously covered his letter-writing efforts in support of the company back in 2009 as the fallout of the Global Financial Crisis hit home. He doesn’t work for Chrysler, but he sees it as a matter of pride that the brand continues on. His hope is that it will live for another 100 years. The biggest threat he sees in this regard? What he believes are “poor decisions and mismanagement by its current owners, Stellantis.”
He puts the malaise at Chrysler down to the fact that it’s not getting the proper attention as one of over 15 brands in the Stellantis lineup. He particularly decries the fact that Alfa Romeo, Fiat, and Maserati are getting new product while Chrysler continues to languish with just the Pacifica to get by. He lays some of the blame at the feet of Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares, questioning his $39.5 million salary amidst the struggles facing the brand.
His ultimate wish? Rhodes Jr. wants to see the Chrysler of old rise again.
My vision is to bring Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, and Ram back as an American-owned company that focuses not only on profits but also on the people who build these cars. I propose creating a new Chrysler Corporation, with workers as part-owners of the company. This would give them a stake in the success of the company and ensure that their jobs are secure.
This plan would also allow Stellantis to save face by exploring all options while offloading Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep®, and Ram to a company that truly cares about their future. This is not just a business opportunity but a chance to restore pride in an American icon and secure the future for thousands of workers.
The situation is dire, but with the right leadership and a clear vision, I believe we can turn things around. The time for action is now, and I am ready to step up and save the brand that my great-grandfather built. With the support of investors and the commitment of our workers, we can ensure that the Chrysler name lives on for another 100 years.
It’s a bold idea. It’s one that quite a few Mopar fanatics might fall in love with. It’s also incredibly unlikely to ever happen.
Follow The Money
Examine the corporate realties and you’ll see why. It might look like Chrysler is all but dead in the water, but that’s not true of the other brands. Dodge has an exciting stable of EVs that are almost ready to drop. Jeep has the best selling hybrid in the country and is shifting serious units even amidst not one, but two embarrassing quality issues. As for Ram? Well, it’s America, kiddo. People are still buying trucks. Why would Stellantis drop any of those brands?
If you just wanted Stellantis to sell Chrysler, that would be somewhat plausible. The same goes for brands like Alfa Romeo and Maserati that continue to struggle. But it’s impossible to see a world where Jeep, Ram and Dodge would be on sale any time soon.
There’s also the problem as to who would invest. As much as it would be great to see Chrysler become a worker-owned co-operative, the money simply doesn’t stack up. Running an automaker is expensive in the extreme, even moreso for smaller ones that have to go it alone. Perhaps some multi-billionaire with a fetish for the Chrysler Town and Country might pop up, but it seems like a long shot.
As for Rhodes and his attacks on CEO Tavares? Well, it’s valid to be unhappy with what he’s done with Chrysler. However, it’s hard to say investors would be too upset with him right now. He may be paid 518 times more than the average employee, but he’s overseen some good times for the company. Stellantis made record money last year, recording almost $20 billion in net profit for 2023. It’s faced some headwinds since, but overall, the company appears to be getting on with business.
As car enthusiasts, many of us want to see Chrysler return to its former glory. We also want to see the sedan rise again, wagons return to America, and gasoline back below $2 a gallon. Some of these wishes are more likely than others.
It’s easy to see why Stellantis is taking this path. As much as it could invest in a Chrysler redemption, it has a lot of other brands to spend money on, too. Quite a few are surer bets, compared to a legacy American giant with a catalogue that’s rapidly becoming forgotten.
It’s not the first time we’ve examined the plight of Chrysler. When our own Matt Hardigree took a look at the Stellantis brands earlier this year, he ranked Chrysler, DS, and Lancia as the most likely to hit the chopping block. That’s based on cold, hard vibes—and some genuine insight.
Real talk, if there is a plan to revitalize Chrysler, we’ve heard absolutely nothing about it. Short of a wacky concept car, we haven’t seen any hints of new product in the works. The Pacifica is approaching seven years old, and it makes up the entirety of the brand’s lineup. As for sales, the numbers aren’t super hot. Back in 2005, the brand sold over 600,000 vehicles a year alone. That sank to just 133,839 sales in 2023, and the brand hasn’t broken 200,000 since 2016.
Maybe we’ll all be pleasantly surprised. Perhaps the great minds at Stellantis are planning some kind of grand, last-minute Iaccocca-style spectacle that turns everything around. Maybe the brand up will go up for sale and it will rise from the ashes with the blessing of a new owner—and lots of money. But right now, there’s little promising evidence of either. Hang in there, Chrysler.
Image credits: Chrysler
The fact that Stellantis has whiffed a number of Jeep (!) product releases kind of says it all. The company is a dumpster fire
What I would do:
Chrysler is now the holding company name a la GM. Stellantis goes away. Van becomes a Dodge Caravan
Spin off Fiat/Alfa/Lancia/Maserati and sell it back to the Italian government or Ferrari. Dump as much debt as possible.
Ram trucks get folded back into Dodge, that was a dumb idea anyway.
Sell the French brands to Nissan/Renault/French government/whoever will take them. Dump as much debt as possible.
Keep Opel as the foothold in Europe to sell any Dodge/Jeep CUVs that translate to euro.
Basically the brand is now Jeep and Dodge. Dodge is the full scale road going brand, Jeep is off-road only. No premium brands, just premium sub-brands like Wagoneer/SRT.
I blame everyone that could vote in the 90’s for the current state of Chrysler. /s
Anywho, Frank likes to write but never seems to be about any action. This is just to stir up the news, again.
I’ve just been waiting to be old enough to want to buy a big boat of a car, and I’m very nearly there…. and now they’re not going to exist anymore. 🙁
I just found a V8 300 on a dealer lot near me. Discounted too. Go grab one.
Name brands come and go. Why hang on to the past if so few people care about the name? Let it go.
Honestly, Chrysler has near zero brand equity at this point. Even a Boomer who remembers some bad ass Imperial or New Yorker from the early 70’s probably has thrown in the towel on Chrysler. After the awful quality of the late 70’s, you had K-cars, a few decent cars in the 90’s and then it has basically been the 300 and a minivan ever since.
“I propose creating a new Chrysler Corporation, with workers as part-owners of the company. This would give them a stake in the success of the company and ensure that their jobs are secure.”
Sure, AFTER Stellantis management gives itself massive bonuses on company credit, then saddles its entire debt load to Chrysler and buries all responsibility for that debt, including all Stellantis pensions etc on the backs of the new part owners. Bonus points for finding a way to make all that debt generational so it will follow the families for a loooong time.
Hear here, brother, I agree with that very, very much.
There was a company that did that back in the day. I think it was overseas, but they seized the company, so the owner sold it to them. And now they are very profitable. I really wish I could remember.I’m gonna have to do a little more digging
Move the (Grand/) Wagoneer from Jeep to Chrysler. See what that does to sales/brand visibility for both, and go from there.
This is not a terrible idea. If you’re going to market a one-model brand, Massive American Luxury makes more sense than a minivan. The Wagoneer is due for a refresh and the Jeep grill on a RAM suv was always just badge engineering anyway. Change the grill and tweak the weird side window treatment and – voila! – Chrysler Town & Country.
If that works, add a version with the Ramcharger drivetrain and Chrysler will have something neither the Escalade nor the Navigator have.
Also, send the Pacifica over to Dodge as a Caravan so it’s not devaluing your new Big American Luxury brand.
Maybe they should offer Taylor Swift and Beyoncé models, though I doubt either of them would want their names associated with Chrysler unless the money was too good.
That’s not a terrible idea but what Chrysler would they endorse? The Pacifica?
“If I was allowed to drive a car instead of being escorted by a security outfit, I would drive a 2029 Chrysler TBD!”
Joe? Dat you?
Tiger Woods was in Buick commercials in the 00’s. I doubt he was driving a Rendezvous.
Just rebrand DSs and sell them as Chryslers. Advertise how “Frenchy” they are. Problem solved.
Peugeot, Citroen and DS have some stylish models in Europe. There must be some really good business reasons why Stellantis is not bringing them over here for sale.
I’ve been wondering why Stellantis hasn’t attempted this, as it seems like common sense. But there’s got to be some sort of reason, like concerns about federalizing some of those platforms, or something like that. Why not attempt to sell cars you already have to a new market? It’s not like their portfolio is entirely city cars; they seem to have plenty of crossovers.
The business reason is French cars have failed every time they have tried to import them
That’s Groundskeeper Willie’s fault for calling them “skirt-wearing poodle-walkers”.
It may be different if they were given a more American front end etc. People know they Chrysler name (for better or worse) and if it looked “American” people might be more willing to buy one.
Although I have only seen 1 Dodge Hornet vs 3 Vinfasts so you may be very right.
The problem with Stellantis is their vehicles are competing against each other because of how many brands it consists of. Simple as that.
Honestly I think the only chance Chrysler has to survive is if it’s spun off. Tavares is all about the next quarter and Chrysler doesn’t get him there. Even then the chances are very close to 0.
The issue, broadly, is there isn’t enough room in the US market for another “general purpose” car brand. They’d have to completely reinvent it with a niche and that’s going to be very hard to do absent the aforementioned billionaire with a soft spot.
As for gas being below $2 a gallon again, well, that could certainly happen with the right energy policies in place. Whether anyone has the appetite for that is another story.
Bringing back Chrysler is easy. Just make it the GMC of Stellantis and badge engineer the Puegots and Alfas.
A sedan here, a convertible there, a few crossovers and a new minivan and boom!
Done.
My Dad is a Mopar Man. The earliest car I can remember is our 1930 Chrysler sedan, the family’s first antique auto. When he got a promotion he bought himself a slab-side Chrysler 300L, my introduction to fancy powered windows!
When my parents retired in Florida they bought a Chrysler Sebring convertible, as one does. The top has been down three times in 10 years. I understand the historical importance of Walter P. and the brand but at this point it is like the sad situation of a parent with dementia. They had their heyday, let it pass.
Maybe Chrysler could bring back the Imperial, but in van-form. Basically something along the lines of the wonderfully over-the-top Lexus LM. Take the hybrid system from the Pacifica, but with more batteries/cylinders/turbos/whatever and slap the biggest chrome waterfall grill ever produced on the front.
Give the interior full reclining rear seats and a mini-IMAX option because screens and they’d sell a few of them.
His comments remind me of so many opinions about the old SS United States, which has been rusting away at a pier near Philly, and prior to that in Norfolk – for decades.
“Someone has to save it – because history!”
What’s done is done – This obsession with the past does nothing to move us forward.
Yeah screw all that public funding of museums! Its just old garbage no one should care about anyway!!! /s
I think the point is that not everything can be saved. There’s only so much money around. We have to pick and choose – some cool things will be lost.
No one is saying to destroy all of the cars chrysler ever made, simply that it’s brand equity is spent, and it’s unclear whether anything the remotely connects to their heritage could viably excite modern audiences.
This /\/\/\
“What’s done is done – This obsession with the past does nothing to move us forward.”
Pretty sure Mao Zedong said something along those lines back in 1958:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Leap_Forward
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Also like a clock, history tends to repeat itself
“Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”
– George Santayana, The Life of Reason, 1905. From the series Great Ideas of Western Man.
We’ve spent around 10 Billion dollars on various grants, grifts, and loans that they just didn’t pay back, on keeping that decaying carcass known as Chrysler alive. I purpose that we should all get a share. Everyone currently registered as alive gets 1/333.3 millionth of Chrysler. All shares are transferable, and there will be no new shares. Every four years all shareholders get to vote on President of Chrysler. It’ll be like the Green Bay Packers- but a car company.
Try again – they were paid back years ago:
https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/business/25chrysler.html
The electric version of the Charger should have been a Chrysler 300 (300E?).
Positioning Chrysler as the EV brand would have been a way to both differentiate it and show it has a future. It would have kept Dodge as the old school ICE performance brand and allowed them to slowly sunset it if/when ICEs do go away.
Eventually an electric minivan, electric CUVs, etc could have been added to the brand too.
At this point I think it might be too far gone.
The electric Charger and definitely the electric Wagoneer should have been Chrysler products and been full luxury products.
I vote “e-hundred” for the name…
I think one of the biggest problems for Chrysler currently is that Jeep hoards the whole crossover segment to themselves, when these days in America the crossover is the normal “family car”. This leaves no room in the lineup for Chrysler (or Dodge), and dilutes Jeep’s off-road image.
Chrysler’s only left with the Pacifica because Jeep doesn’t know how to convincingly put a 7-slot grille on a minivan.
20 years ago if you said “I bought a Jeep”, people would first assume it was something like a WJ Grand Cherokee (which was still quite off road capable),
or more idealistically, a Wrangler.
Now if you say “I bought a Jeep” the immediate assumption is it’s a Compass or KL “Patriot”, or if you’re idealistic maybe a WL Grand Cherokee, which has all the offroad pedigree of an Alfa Giulia.
In fact, if you look past the Wrangler and Gladiator, the next most offroady product in Jeep’s lineup is the Renegade, which is A: a Fiat 500X in disguise, and B: no longer in production.
And now they’re making stuff like the Wagoneer S, which isn’t even pretending to be off road capable.
Hopefully Jeep goes through with this “Recon” concept, as it’ll at least salvage the credibility of one of their brands.
Hmm yes, I think you’ve got it. I don’t have any special affection for Chrysler, but cutting it up and feeding the pieces to Jeep leaves Jeep diluted (they don’t care as long as line go up) and Chrysler redundant.
>Chrysler’s only left with the Pacifica because Jeep doesn’t know how to convincingly put a 7-slot grille on a minivan.
Pretty much nails it.
It’s pretty easy actually, and I’m surprised they haven’t done it yet. Just make the canoo lifestyle van, but real and with a 7 slot grille.
I saw a Jeep Wagoneer S from the distance at night, my first reaction was, thats looks like a Nissan Ariya but then I got closer and saw the front end, it was very Jeep. They are following the formula from Range Rover with the Velar but with the Jeep badge? Its just a weird combo to be honest, it should be rebranded as Chrysler, it didnt have the height or stance of a Jeep.
I’ve been saying this for years, Jeep should have always just been Wrangler, Grand Cherokee, Cherokee (and not a fwd Fiat platform) and now the Gladiator. Dodge should have gotten the Renegade and Compass and Chrysler would get the Grand Cherokee L and Wagoneer (obviously all with different names) As it stands now, you’re right, the Jeep brand is so diluted that its almost a punchline
Yep, I miss the days when the jeep line up was 3 vehicles. The low price wrangler. the mid range cherokee, (2 and 4 door) and the high end grand cherokee.
I’ve talked about it before, but the new Wagoneer launch was sad. They started with this discussion about what and who Jeep people are. Then they launched in to what the Wagoneer was and how it wasn’t for any of those people they had just described. It was for a whole new jeep person who didn’t offroad or spend time in the woods. It was for the new Jeep person who thought driving to the Hamptons or spending a day at a private beach required 4wd. It was TERRIBLE and sad. They could easily have built a Chrysler and a new Dodge with that platform I think, but Jeep was the last brand that could use it.
It’s too late for Chrysler, and I can’t think of a time when it was worth saving. Even during their heyday in the 1950’s their sales were a small fraction of Cadillac and Lincoln sales. (I’m referring only to luxury cars.) Sure, they had the hemi engine and Torqueflite automatic, but that was the last of their innovations. Everything afterwards was just playing catch up.
The burial won’t be expensive as there were advance plans for a shared cemetery plot with Desoto in the graveyard of grandpa cars.
Save Ram trucks, Jeep Wranglers, and Chrysler Minivans and burn the rest.
I think the Grand Cherokee is probably worth saving as well but pretty much everything else could go away tomorrow and no one would notice
Yes I almost put that one down also. I am an old and had a ZJ for a while, so for me The 4 door Wrangler covers what the old grand Cherokee was and did. Save the GC and you are right about the rest.
It’s a perfectly cromulent product. I wouldn’t want one because the fuel economy sucks ass and my wife and I will need exactly 0 off road capability in our eventual hauler…so a traditional hybrid is in our future. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t a good car. It definitely is.
It’s attractive, it’s available in a wide array of trims from barebones hauler to competitive in the luxury segment, there are 2 size options, there’s a PHEV (albeit a shitty half baked one), etc. Also, everyone gives Jeep shit for their reliability but that pentastar V6 is bomb proof. We have a 2015 GC in the family that’s at about 150,000 miles, is used to tow jet skis, has been on endless road trips, etc. and outside of some minor things that came up because my dad blew off a ton of routine maintenance it’s been as solid as they come.
They’re very good cars if you don’t care about fuel economy and need your SUV to do actual SUV stuff.
I have a 12 JKU and my wife has a 20 voyager and that 3.6L has been fantastic in both. I off road at the off road parks and overland very often in all seasons and love what my jeep can do.
I can’t imagine Stellantis is going to redesign the Pacifica (if they ever actually do so, maybe they’ll just drop it entirely) for it to be a Chrysler. I would bet next time around it’s a Dodge. And that will be that for the brand.
It sucks, but the brand was in trouble a decade ago. Maybe if anyone gave a shit then, it would have had a chance. But I don’t see any situation in which someone revives it. What would Chrysler even be? A mainstream brand? Dodge in theory could have that covered. Premium or luxury? Christ, where is there space in the market for that?
It’s sad, but it’s probably time to let it die. I would say with dignity, but even as a fan of vans (and a person that owns their van in particular) it’s pretty sad to go out as a car brand with only a van as your final model.
“Perhaps the great minds at Stellantis…” – are we sure there are great minds at that company anymore? Pretty sure they either laid-off, or scared all their talent away. Tavares appears to be a classic cost-cutting for short term gains, pivot to golden parachute type. I can’t imagine he’s got a team working on the next people’s car.
This guy would make a hell of a politician.
Among the many problems I see for Chrysler is that they don’t have an open role to fill. They could try introducing a new luxury sedan based on the upcoming Charger, but Americans aren’t buying luxury sedans. They’re buying luxury SUVs and trucks, and Stellantis already has those markets covered with Jeep and Ram.
I’d love to see a new 300 because I’ve always thought the 300 is a pretty badass car but I’d be shocked if they bother introducing one. They have the platform but outside of weirdos like us who’s buying sedans?
The biggest issue is that no one in the company would let them go anywhere near any Alfa or Maserati sales or platforms. Alfa and Maserati aren’t doing so hot themselves and having a Chrysler version of their products doesn’t sound like it would be successful.
Stellantis is obsessed with trying to keep its European brands alive and to me it looks like a Sisyphean task….but they’re European and they’re proud about it so what can you do.
What niche does Chrysler fill? They were more luxurious Dodges but now that’s Alfa and Jeep, and frankly Dodge isn’t doing well either. So, who is Chrysler for?
The only possible niche I can see them try to fill is “American Mercedes-AMG” and position them above Jeep, but that takes money that they don’t have and has them compete with their own Maserati. I don’t see a realistic solution here.
The people they actually have brand cache with are aging out as well. The Chrysler name might mean something to your grandparents, but for the 45 (maybe even 50) and under crowd it’s essentially meaningless at this point. They’re seen as grandpa cars, and they kind of are…although if the 300Cs keep depreciating there’s a nonzero chance I’ll swoop in and grab one because a grandpa car with a 6.4 liter V8 is decidedly rad.
Yeah, the MSRP on the 300C was a firm no but when they’re half MSRP with 30k miles on them, I’ll have to take a long hard look lol
Exactly. 55k was an utterly insane ask, and the market agrees. There are still new ones listed for thousands off MSRP. They may be limited, but they’re not really special. They’re just Scat Packs in a cheap suit.
The people that snatched them up thinking they’d be collector cars are going to get out of them soon enough and the second gas prices go up again the people that stretched their budgets for them will be sprinting to get out of them. They’ll be in the 30s before we know it and they will make a mighty, mighty fine buy at that price point.
I could technically afford to go buy one of the leftover new ones right now, but why would I do that? I’d just wind up taking a bath. The combination of having an anonymous badge, being a luxury-ish sedan, and horrible fuel economy means they’re gonna come down hard. I’ll let some bozo take that hit then swoop in on a low mileage, Boomer owned one.
That’s it. I’m in my mid 30’s, and I doubt anyone of my peers that isn’t a car nut is even aware that Chrysler is still around. They certainly don’t have fond memories of the brand – we’re talking a brand that hasn’t had anything other than minivans and a single full-sized sedan for the last decade. By the time Stellantis can crap out some new Chrysler products, people like me will be begging their parents (the people who… might care) to hand over the keys.
The AWD with fold-and-go seats is only a Chrysler product. That is why we have a Voyager and not a Sennia.
Translation: I don’t have the money to do this, but I’d be happy to spend someone else’s.
Ok, and that, relatively, is more desirable than allowing currency to concentrate and cementing the velocity of money.
Unless you honestly think ~300 million can survive off of making and refurbishing a single yacht per year for the people with the money? Even if they went soviety and set quotas at 22 million yachts per year that’s a LOT of empty hands and empty stomachs.
Let me rephrase:”I’m not willing to take the risk all alone, but I’d be more than happy to drag a bunch of other people off that cliff with me.”
”I’m not willing to take the risk, but I’d be more than happy to push a bunch of other people off that cliff.”
FIFY