In recent days Chrysler has continued to celebrate 100 years of activity at the Carlisle Nationals, where CEO Chris Feuell discussed the brand’s future. Among the most important topics, the speculation that Stellantis could sell or close the Chrysler brand due to poor sales and the presence of only one model in the range.
Chrysler clarifies the brand’s future and announces the return of the 300
“I get this question almost every day. I want to dispel these rumors that assume the closure or sale of the brand. None of this is true,” Feuell declared. “As I said, Antonio Filosa is now at the helm of the company and believes in Chrysler. Stellantis is working on rebuilding our portfolio and doubling its investments to grow in the North American market and regain leadership in all our brands.”
Feuell confirmed that several new products are in development, including the crossover known by the code name C6X. Additionally, a second crossover is in the works, along with the Pacifica refresh and the new Chrysler 300 sedan (or its successor).
“We are working on a new car, but I can’t talk about it clearly. I can’t tell you when it will be launched, but I’ve heard that all of you want to see the return of the 300 and we are definitely talking about this,” Feuell declared.
Feuell also discussed the return of the SRT division: “I spoke with Tim Kuniskis and Matt McAlear and we have developed a plan for the SRT division. We’re talking about an opportunity to bring back the high-performance brands and products that have been so iconic in the past. Expect to see SRT models under the Chrysler brand. The Pacifica would be fantastic, but we plan to integrate these models into our future products as well.”
Furthermore, he spoke about emissions laws and that this flexibility will lead to following a multi-energy strategy and not betting everything on electric vehicles, as initially planned: “Much of the legislation passed recently has opened the way for us to return the HEMI, return SRT and move to a multi-energy strategy, rather than electric. Now electric cars need a certain market share, but most American consumers want to have the flexibility to choose what to drive and we want to be able to offer it.”
Chrysler’s CEO also emphasized that the average price for a new vehicle at the moment is too high for most consumers: “Among the things we need to prioritize is economic accessibility. At the moment the average price of a new car is $49,000, believe it or not. This is too much for most consumers looking for a new vehicle. For this reason we are working on a small car, something that can cost less than $30,000 and be competitive in the segment. It also has to be beautiful, fun to drive and ambitious, because we want people to feel proud not of what they drive, but of the fact that it bears the Chrysler brand.”
Greater clarity could come with the new industrial plan that Antonio Filosa, Stellantis‘ new CEO, is working on.
