Chrysler in Crisis: It used to be Detroit's design leader. Not now.
By Todd Lassa
Chrysler used to own the North American International Auto Show. Since the late 1980s, Chrysler concepts regularly stole the show at Cobo Hall. Such concepts as the Dodge Super 8, Chrysler Atlantic, and Jeep Jeepster, along with production car launches like the Dodge {{{Viper}}}, various iterations of Jeep Grand Cherokees and minivans, the Chrysler {{{Concorde}}} and Dodge {{{Intrepid}}}, and the original Dodge {{{Durango}}} generated headlines and media buzz around the world. No one quite put the effort, and the theater, into Detroit the way Chrysler did.
At this year's Detroit show, however, Chrysler ran a distant third to GM and Ford in terms of the design quality of its concepts and new production vehicles. Chrysler's new minivans are boxy, upright appliances, while the Dodge Avenger unsuccessfully crams Charger styling cues onto a short-wheelbase midsize sedan. They join the fussy, awkward Sebring and the lumpy Jeep Compass to create the least visually appealing Chrysler group lineup in years.
The Nassau concept is meant to explore what the next 300 could be. Chrysler execs believe the next-generation 300, due in 2010, should be something new-in other words, not a traditional sedan-if it's going to be a hit, though with Ford and GM working on large sedans, and the current 300 still selling well, you have to ask why. Large hatchbacks, like the Nassau, have been tried by a number of automakers without success.
More worrying, however, is what the Nassau says about the next 300's potential design direction. The Nassau retains the 300's current 120-inch wheelbase, but the entire proportion of the car has been changed. Instead of the short front overhang of the current car-one of the benefits of a rear-drive platform-the Nassau has the long front overhang of a front-drive car. The windshield is more steeply raked, and the roof has been pushed back to the rear of the car.
Ford's Interceptor concept supports the lesson Chrysler should've learned from the 300: That big, rakish American four-door sedans can be sexy and stylish (versus fashionable). Chrysler should've established the 300's design as its icon and built other models around it. But after last year's Imperial and this year's Nassau, it's clear that isn't going to happen.