Chrysler used to sell sedans, convertibles, an SUV, even the funky PT Cruiser and sporty Crossfire.
Now, it’s down to just one model: the Pacifica minivan. That increasingly limited focus and lack of investment has fueled concerns that the century-old brand owned by Stellantis NV could eventually head the way of other defunct Detroit Three nameplates such as Plymouth, Oldsmobile and Mercury.
But newly appointed Chrysler CEO Matt McAlear told The Detroit News that the brand’s fans shouldn’t worry. One recent sign of life: The Pacifica has been refreshed for the 2027 model year with new front-end styling, safety features and other tweaks.
McAlear unveiled the updated van — the brand’s first significant product announcement in years — at the New York International Auto Show earlier this year. In a recent interview, he promised that Chrysler would play a “big part” at a May 21 Stellantis investor gathering in Auburn Hills, where CEO Antonio Filosa is expected to outline the company’s strategic plan and discuss the future of its 14 brands.
“We’ve got a lot of positivity around the brand,” said McAlear, who also leads Dodge and Alfa Romeo’s North American operations. “I don’t think there’s anything to be worried about. It’s some stuff that we’ve already talked with our national dealer council about, and we’re excited to kind of lay that out (on May 21).”
‘Alive and well’
Still, Chrysler fans have had reason for concern over the last decade as models like the Chrysler 200 and 300 sedans disappeared without replacements.
A recent Reuters report said Filosa’s new strategic plan is expected to focus the majority of the automaker’s investment on its four core brands, including Jeep and Ram in the United States, as well as Peugeot and Fiat.
In a call with reporters last week, Filosa wouldn’t talk details but did acknowledge there would be a drive for “capital allocation efficiency” within the company’s large brand portfolio. And he mentioned Chrysler as among the four “beautiful” U.S. brands that are important to the company’s success.
Other Stellantis executives have also recently weighed in on the future of the brand, which celebrated its 100th anniversary last year with an event on Belle Isle. North American design head Scott Krugger recently told reporters there is passion and behind-the-scenes work to develop the brand’s future.
From a design perspective, he said Chrysler should retain themes of simplicity and usefulness but also innovation. The company has had a lengthy history of developing aerodynamic cars, advancing technologies like cruise control, and inventing the minivan.
“I think a lot of people are wondering, what’s Chrysler going to be doing? What are we doing with Chrysler?” Krugger said. “There’s a lot going on behind the (design studio) walls, I can tell you that.”
“We’re probably not going to tell you what it is today,” he added. “But Chrysler is very much alive and well. There’s a lot going on in the studio. There’s a lot of interest in it from the highest levels of the company right now.”
Shifting product plans
Despite the optimistic talk, not much has come to fruition at the brand in recent years, and it doesn’t appear that any new models are imminent.
Since the last 300 sedan rolled off the line at the Brampton Assembly Plant in Canada in late 2023, Chrysler has sold only the Pacifica and a cheaper minivan, the Voyager. Starting with the 2027 model year, all of the brand’s minivan trims will be named Pacifica.
Chrysler has shown off impressive all-electric concepts over the last few years, such as the crossover Airflow and the low-slung Halcyon sedan. In 2022, it promised to reinvent itself as a fully electric brand by 2028, a plan that no longer appears on the table.
Last year, then-CEO Chris Feuell told The News that Chrysler was planning to release a midsize hybrid crossover in 2027, its first all-new vehicle in two decades. She said there were longer-range plans to bring back a sedan or coupe.
Yet the status of those plans is also unclear; Feuell departed Stellantis in early March and was replaced at the brand by McAlear, effective immediately. Feuell later told The News she had needed to step away “to focus on my family” and had submitted her resignation several weeks before the company’s announcement.
McAlear declined to talk in detail about what’s to come for the brand, saying more would be revealed at the upcoming investor day.
Affordable options needed
Chrysler dealers say they’d like to see a more affordable offering for their lots. Think a small to midsize SUV with a $30,000 or so starting price and urban styling that differentiates itself from Jeep’s more off-road-focused offerings, said Sean Hogan, a Los Angeles-area retailer who heads the national Stellantis dealer council.
Dave Kelleher, a Chrysler dealer in Pennsylvania, said Stellantis brass showed a group of retailers an affordable, potential future Chrysler vehicle called the Pronto that would start in the $20,000s during a visit to Auburn Hills last fall. He added that the dealers were also shown similar, smaller and affordable future models for Jeep and Dodge.
Kelleher said developing cheaper entry-level models at Chrysler and other brands is vital as the automaker tries to regain market share in the United States. The carmaker and dealer might not make a big profit on the car itself, but such entry offerings can help build brand and dealership loyalty and lead to more business down the road.
“Most dealers made their money selling Neons and Sundances, and Acclaims and Spirits — cars that were affordable, that you could make payments on,” Kelleher said. “We’ve gotten away from that heritage.”
McAlear said Stellantis leadership is well aware of the need for affordable options, both at Chrysler and within other brands.
“That’s definitely part of the Chrysler future, and it’s part of all of our brands’ futures,” he said. “It’s something that we know we need to work on as a company, and we need to take a good look at where the industry is going and make sure we’re competitive.”
Chrysler has recently shown it’s thinking about the affordability issue as average new car prices hover around $50,000. A new patriotic ad features historic black-and-white imagery and a quote from founder Walter P. Chrysler: “Make your product so that all American families can afford to buy it.”
This week, the brand also announced it was revising prices downward for several different trims of its 2027 Pacifica, which the company said has started shipping to dealers. The refreshed van starts at $45,540, including the destination fee; a base model with the older styling starts at $43,490.
‘Positive vibes’
Frank B. Rhodes Jr., who is Walter P. Chrysler’s 67-year-old great-grandson, has consistently and publicly touted the brand in recent years and, at times, raised concerns about its future.
He wrote to former Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares and brand chief Feuell in 2024, criticizing how the automaker had allowed the famous brand to languish. He said Tavares didn’t seem to care about the brand.
But in an interview this week, he said he’s feeling more “positive vibes” lately about Chrysler’s future. He has confidence in the current leadership team, including Filosa and McAlear, with whom he’s recently communicated. And in June, he’s planning to visit Auburn Hills for a tour of the automaker’s headquarters.
Rhodes owns two Chrysler 300s. He said the brand should prioritize bringing back a sedan to its lineup, rather than an SUV, because there are already too many SUVs in the market.
He also said he likes Chrysler’s adventure-focused Pacifica Grizzly Peak concept vehicle, which features beefy tires, roof racks and other rugged family-travel features. He thinks the brand should put it into production.
Rhodes believes the brand should hone a throwback image of “blue-collar luxury,” meaning quality, simplicity, and attainability for middle-class families.
“I’m going to do whatever I can to keep the brand going,” Rhodes said. “I just want the brand to survive.”
McAlear, for his part, promises that it will: “We’re looking at the first 100 years of the Chrysler brand as not necessarily a finish line, but as a starting line for the next 100 years.”
lramseth@detroitnews.com
This article originally appeared on The Detroit News: Can Chrysler survive? With just one minivan, CEO says fans shouldn’t fret
Reporting by Luke Ramseth, The Detroit News / The Detroit News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
