Industry Report: Next-Gen Chrysler 300 to Debut at Detroit Auto Show
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Chrysler was on to something when it created the current 300C, noted by the car’s amazingly strong sales at the time, and while the Pacifica offered one of the best interiors offered in a domestic vehicle up to its point of entry as a leader in the crossover segment (and still better than almost anything Chrysler has offered since) and the Crossfire made Mercedes’ initial hopes for the brand apparent, it gets the mind wondering what would have happened if the winged brand had continued on its luxury path and delivered cars truly capable of rivaling the world’s best, yet at more affordable prices.
Currently the position of entry-level brand taking on the premium powers that be is Hyundai, and the Koreans are doing an impressive job with their Pacifica-trouncing Veracruz, 300C-targeted Genesis sedan, and soon to be BMW 335i Coupe-defying Genesis Coupe. So why isn’t Chrysler in the same position? The turnaround came when Chrysler decided not to go all the way and opted out of their Firepower Concept, which would have been an Aston Martin in Chrysler drag, a gorgeous car that could have defined the brand and gone very far to change perceptions. The Crossfire couldn’t do that as it was so obviously a Mercedes-Benz, but a Hemi-powered, rear-drive two-seat coupe, an elegant and classy answer to the racy and provocative Corvette, would have messed with peoples’ psyche, confused even the most ardent elitists to cross over the tracks into the trailer park and express their devotion to a Chrysler due to beauty alone. It was that good looking.
While this is in the past, some of Chrysler’s recent products can’t even cause those that live in trailer parks to get excited. Truly, instead of the Firepower we got the current Sebring, a car when put up beside Hyundai’s Sonata, going back to the brand that’s doing luxury right, falls dramatically short. Just the same, ex-Toyota boss Jim Press, now in the hot seat at Chrysler, has been reported by Automotive News as questioning why Chrysler shouldn’t fill the role of America’s luxury brand. Lincoln is already doing that, you say, while Cadillac is delivering luxury and performance. True on both counts, but up until the new MKS, Lincoln was an entry-level luxury player at best, and some would say the MKS, while very good, doesn’t totally elevate them into the luxury stratosphere because of only offering a V6 powerplant; the bane of Acura’s RL. Cadillac deserves the prestige it’s now enjoying, but to be truthful, it doesn’t offer anything to truly compete in the rear-wheel drive or even all-wheel drive full-size sedan category, where the 300C now resides, and you can’t really be a player in the luxury business without a flagship sedan.
Press is obviously prepping us for the launch of the next 300, due in Detroit in a few weeks’ time, and you’ve got to admit he has a point. Chrysler, after all, has a luxury heritage if you go way back, and even in more recent decades it’s been considered the premium offering within the Pentastar group. Remember “Corinthian leather”? The famous phrase uttered by Mexican television, theatre, and film actor, and “Fantasy Island” star, Ricardo Montalbán in Chrysler’s mid-70s Cordoba TV ads? It’s now a classic line, and while the car isn’t particularly collectible outside of low-riding chop shops it was a hit for Chrysler and quite luxurious for the era, if not premium in quality.
And that’s where Press and his Chrysler brand would have to make the jump if he expects us to consider Chrysler a premium brand, worthy of rivaling the Europeans and top-tier Asians. The current crop of Chryslers have all of the toys, and in some respects more than any of the Euro flagships, except for the fact that Chrysler stuffs most of its best goodies into a minivan which, as the market will attest, is hardly premium in concept. The 300 comes with top-level audio and navigation equipment for sure, and its rear-drive layout and powerful yet efficient V8 with cylinder-deactivation is right on the money, but it falls down in interior execution, coming up short on refinement and the kind of perceived quality details which buyers in the luxury class demand. And the perception of a brand’s premium status can’t be hung on one car, as Chrysler has attempted to do. Its smaller cars needed to integrate the same brand identity as its larger cars, from the Sebring right up to the 300, although a premium-level flagship would certainly give us hope.
And to that end, will the next generation 300 making its way from Auburn Hills to Cobo Hall answer this issue, or will we have another almost-premium offering that looks as if the bean-counters played a more important role in its final execution than the designers and product planners? In about three weeks time we’ll know, and hopefully the money behind the blue-ribbon brand, Cerberus Capital Management, will have allowed the 300 to spread its wings and become the luxury car it has always wanted to be. Chrysler’s future will hinge on the result.
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| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Saint Paul, MN | Price: $16,491 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Houston, TX | Price: $16,491 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Englewood, CO | Price: $17,490 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Tucson, AZ | Price: $13,991 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Phoenix, AZ | Price: $15,800 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Tucson, AZ | Price: $19,989 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Naples, FL | Price: $15,940 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Schaumburg, IL | Price: $15,995 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Lincolnwood, IL | Price: $14,995 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Janesville, WI | Price: $17,831 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Smyrna, DE | Price: $20,989 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Richardson, TX | Price: $13,508 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Springfield, IL | Price: $18,760 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Washington Court House, OH | Price: $9,595 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 | Littleton, CO | Price: $11,988 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Austin, TX | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Roseville, CA | Price: $15,991 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Beaver Falls, PA | Price: $17,900 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Defiance, OH | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Peoria, AZ | Price: $14,991 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Orange, CA | Price: $15,321 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Tampa, FL | Price: $11,984 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Fort Lauderdale, FL | Price: $15,992 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Chicago, IL | Price: $15,995 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Naples, FL | Price: $13,997 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Cape Girardeau, MO | Price: $14,995 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Fort Myers, FL | Price: $14,390 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Austin, TX | Price: $17,488 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Jacksonville, FL | Price: $15,988 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Conway, AR | Price: $13,977 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Temecula, CA | Price: $16,889 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Lumberton, NC | Price: $17,777 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Westminster, MD | Price: $17,813 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Napa, CA | Price: $13,990 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Hampton, VA | Price: $18,438 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Southern Pines, NC | Price: $22,995 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Oxnard, CA | Price: $16,888 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 | Seattle, WA | Price: $10,992 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 | Murfreesboro, TN | Price: $12,995 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Johnston, RI | Price: $15,998 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Northbrook, IL | Price: $17,995 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Carmel, IN | Price: $17,877 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Chandler, AZ | Price: $12,877 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Tucson, AZ | Price: $16,999 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Cincinnati, OH | Price: $15,995 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Overland Park, KS | Price: $99,999 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Overland Park, KS | Price: $99,999 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Spring, TX | Price: $14,745 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Spring, TX | Price: $16,777 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | White Plains, NY | Price: $12,990 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Webster, NY | Price: $15,996 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Littleton, CO | Price: $16,494 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Easton, MD | Price: $12,949 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Yulee, FL | Price: $13,495 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Calabasas, CA | Price: $13,782 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Pensacola, FL | Price: $14,700 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 C | Decatur, IL | Price: $13,980 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Columbus, GA | Price: $9,599 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 | Houston, TX | Price: $11,393 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Plano, TX | Price: $14,991 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | Killeen, TX | Price: $13,500 | |
| 2005 Chrysler 300 Limited | York, ME | Price: $13,900 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Bellevue, WA | Price: $14,992 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Seattle, WA | Price: $19,991 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Englewood, CO | Price: $15,490 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Alamogordo, NM | Price: $21,500 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Montgomery, AL | Price: $14,990 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Mesa, AZ | Price: $14,988 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Cockeysville, MD | Price: $18,575 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 | North Olmsted, OH | Price: $11,995 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Foley, AL | Price: $19,662 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 | Fort Myers, FL | Price: $14,600 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Albuquerque, NM | Price: $17,995 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Albuquerque, NM | Price: $16,995 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Albuquerque, NM | Price: $19,995 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Albuquerque, NM | Price: $16,995 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Liberty Lake, WA | Price: $14,975 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Albuquerque, NM | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Melrose Park, IL | Price: $17,577 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Melrose Park, IL | Price: $18,977 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Melrose Park, IL | Price: $17,977 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Janesville, WI | Price: $21,449 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Janesville, WI | Price: $15,793 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Tracy, CA | Price: $17,995 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Tracy, CA | Price: $16,995 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Deland, FL | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Smyrna, DE | Price: $24,999 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Peoria, AZ | Price: $14,995 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 | Peoria, AZ | Price: $11,991 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Sullivan, IL | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 | Westfield, MA | Price: $15,863 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Westfield, MA | Price: $19,750 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Dunellen, NJ | Price: $17,888 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Dunellen, NJ | Price: $19,888 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | West Palm Beach, FL | Price: $18,978 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | West Palm Beach, FL | Price: $14,997 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Lake Havasu City, AZ | Price: Contact Seller | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Lake Havasu City, AZ | Price: $17,900 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 C | Victor, NY | Price: $19,988 | |
| 2006 Chrysler 300 Touring | Morristown, NJ | Price: $18,995 |