Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Nitro deemed failures -- by Chrysler

Chrysler Sebring, Dodge Nitro deemed failures -- by Chrysler

What do you do when you know you have (at least) a couple of losers on your hands? These days, you hold an e-mail discussion about it, something that can be easily leaked to the press. That's what Chrysler did, and what The Detroit News reported Friday morning. The internal discussion -- a funny thing to have leaked for a company that's about to go private -- singles out the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Nitro as critical failures and for going straight to rental. You know the Sebring runs on the same platform as the relatively successful Dodge Caliber, plus the Jeep Compass and Patriot I discussed in my previous blog, the '09 JC49 and '10 JZ49 unibody SUVs and the Dodge Avenger.

So the joke that worked so well for Pontiac Aztek/Buick Rendezvous gets recycled: Chrysler built the Sebring to make the Dodge Avenger look good.

The internal e-mails indicate that engineering and design heads will roll, that Chrysler will have to move quickly to improve models like the Sebring and Nitro. Good luck. Look at all the new and coming Chrysler models on that platform. What'll Chrysler do about the sedans that are supposed to compete with the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord and the new Chevy Malibu? Revert to the old Sebring/Stratus platform? Chrysler kept those straight-to-rental cars on the road way too long to give itself time to get the new Sebring/Avenger right. And what did it get for its time and money? Heated/cooled cupholders.

Chrysler has spent the last couple of years denying that these front-drive cars and trucks (and all-wheel-drive derivatives) ride on the new Mitsubishi Lancer's platform. It developed that basic platform into its own, Chrysler has claimed. You can bet marketing won't rush to "correct" the Lancer attribution from now on. If Chrysler can legitimately blame any entity other than itself though, it's Daimler, which insiders say seriously hampered what Chrysler has been able to do in the last nine years or so, the Mercedes-based rear-drive LX cars notwithstanding. And DCX had an alliance with Mitsubishi when these deals were done.

Chrysler's morale is up since the sale announcement (despite the e-mail discussion ) because employees think they're over all that Mercedes meddling. Now it can build models like the Chrysler Imperial, a car that could infringe on lower- to mid-level Benzes. (Not if the production model looks like the concept.) And there've been local news reports about Cerberus's Wolfgang Bernhard lurking around Chrysler headquarters, looking atreal estate in Auburn Hills.

Bernhard is a well-respected car guy, but he had an office in that headquarters back when Chrysler was developing the Sebring and Nitro. How will he change things?

Source: [url=http://blogs.motortrend.com/6209942/editorial/chrysler-sebring-dodge-nitro-deemed-failures-by-chrysler/]MotorTrend Magazine[/url]