Industry Report: Next-Gen Chrysler 300 to Debut at Detroit Auto Show

300 Photos

The 300C changed perceptions about the Chrysler brand, but they never followed it up with another premium-like product. (Photo: American Auto Press)

300C was a step in the right direction, but still not to level of Audi or Mercedes-Benz. (Photo: American Auto Press)

Chrysler missed the mark with the Sebring. (Photo: American Auto Press)

Chrysler's new Aspen was much better than expected, but an M-B GL it's not. (Photo: American Auto Press)

Chrysler needs to give it's brand a Firepower boost, but it's not likely in today's economy. (Photo: Chrysler)

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		Englewood, CO	Price: Contact Seller
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Davenport, IA	Price: $17,995
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Saint Augustine, FL	Price: Contact Seller
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Medford, OR	Price: $14,665
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Phoenix, AZ	Price: $18,995
2005 Chrysler 300		Dublin, CA	Price: $9,998
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		Watertown, NY	Price: $16,667
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Holiday, FL	Price: $14,991
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Reading, PA	Price: $16,992
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Moosic, PA	Price: $13,949
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Asheville, NC	Price: $19,995
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Baton Rouge, LA	Price: $18,725
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Merrillville, IN	Price: $10,699
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Millersville, MD	Price: $16,997
2005 Chrysler 300		Huntington, WV	Price: $13,590
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Pacoima, CA	Price: $9,980
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Pacoima, CA	Price: $9,980
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Libertyville, IL	Price: $13,979
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Littleton, CO	Price: $18,992
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Manassas, VA	Price: $14,870
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Manassas, VA	Price: $10,950
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Chillicothe, OH	Price: $14,912
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Austin, TX	Price: $17,988
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Conway, AR	Price: $13,977
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Chandler, AZ	Price: $12,499
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Oxnard, CA	Price: $16,888
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Jericho, NY	Price: $14,975
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Houston, TX	Price: $12,888
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Lockport, NY	Price: $15,995
2005 Chrysler 300		Rochester, NY	Price: $13,995
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Phoenix, AZ	Price: $15,900
2005 Chrysler 300		Palatine, IL	Price: $11,977
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Capitola, CA	Price: $14,588
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Goleta, CA	Price: $17,988
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Colorado Springs, CO	Price: $17,883
2005 Chrysler 300		Castroville, TX	Price: $11,950
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Decatur, TX	Price: $15,975
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Mesquite, TX	Price: $11,986
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Mattoon, IL	Price: $16,900
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Mattoon, IL	Price: $13,900
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Mattoon, IL	Price: $18,900
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Minneapolis, MN	Price: $13,991
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Frankenmuth, MI	Price: $14,995
2005 Chrysler 300		Taylor, MI	Price: $11,990
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Kokomo, IN	Price: $13,745
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Youngstown, OH	Price: $14,375
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Columbus, OH	Price: $16,444
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Columbus, OH	Price: $10,444
2005 Chrysler 300		Olive Branch, MS	Price: $11,900
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Bradenton, FL	Price: $15,988
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Naples, FL	Price: $15,940
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Jacksonville, NC	Price: $14,995
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Goldsboro, NC	Price: $16,945
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Goldsboro, NC	Price: $15,900
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Westminster, MD	Price: $17,813
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Franconia, PA	Price: $13,995
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Burlington, NJ	Price: $11,995
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Butler, NJ	Price: $16,395
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Phoenix, AZ	Price: $15,800
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Pueblo, CO	Price: $18,995
2005 Chrysler 300		Burnsville, MN	Price: $12,990
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Burnsville, MN	Price: $14,490
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Junction City, OR	Price: Contact Seller
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Cincinnati, OH	Price: $35,900
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Greensboro, NC	Price: $14,988
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Deerfield Beach, FL	Price: $14,888
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		Dublin, CA	Price: $10,998
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Laurel, MD	Price: $19,725
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Laurel, MD	Price: $18,500
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Laurel, MD	Price: $17,570
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Fort Myers, FL	Price: $14,390
2005 Chrysler 300		Richmond Hill, NY	Price: $10,980
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Richmond Hill, NY	Price: $13,480
2005 Chrysler 300		Richmond Hill, NY	Price: $11,980
2005 Chrysler 300 C		Austin, TX	Price: $17,488
2005 Chrysler 300 Limited		Webster, NY	Price: Contact Seller
2006 Chrysler 300 C		Glassboro, NJ	Price: $18,299
2006 Chrysler 300 C		Pacoima, CA	Price: $16,480
2006 Chrysler 300 C		Wauseon, OH	Price: $14,995