Chrysler Killing Models: What Would You Euthanize?

Ever since Chrysler changed ownership earlier this year, the new owners have been trying to turn things around, and quick. Today, comes news — or really well-sourced rumors — that the company is looking to cut up to five models in its Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge lineups. That could be particularly meaningful for UAW members, whose new contract only ensures their jobs as long as the product they’re working on is being built. There has been talk about dissent over the Chrysler contract, and UAW members at Chrysler will vote on that new contract soon. This news could make winning that vote harder for Chrysler.

The Detroit Free Press story mentions the Chrysler Pacifica, Dodge Dakota, Jeep Commander and Jeep Compass as likely candidates while the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Durango are also up for review. We wouldn’t miss any of those vehicles, but a new Pacifica would probably compete well in an auto landscape now full of crossovers that mimic its layout and usefulness. 

That’s what Chrysler is reportedly thinking of axing, but we figured we’d poll our readers to see if they agree with the above or have ideas of their own. Sound off in the comments. 

Chrysler Set to Ax Models (Detroit Free Press)

Comments

They left out a few models...
Compass
Caliber
Patriot
Avenger
Nitro

Keep the minivan, the Grand Cherokee, the 300, and axe everything else. Might be better just to start from scratch.

I agree that the Pacifica should live on. Dakota may appeal to truck buyers who don't want a Ram.

Ax the underperforming Jeep brand extensions:
Jeep Compass
Jeep Commander

Ax the superfluous and poorly-timed full size SUV and the embarrassing "miss" that lacks the saving grace of a convertible top:
Chrysler Aspen
Chrysler Sebring Sedan

Some models need to be improved, not dropped. The Sebring/Avenger are in a key market segment. The Durango and Dakota are in important high-profit centers as well, and the Durango is (in my opinion), a great SUV.

However:
Compass and Commander are unnecessary, and the Compass is garbage. The Liberty has become redundant as the pseudo-Jeep with the more carlike Patriot. The Magnum is no longer popular. The Aspen is unnecessary, as long as the Pacific is kept. And the Caliber should be replaced by a lineup that includes a coupe and sedan.

Dodge:
Keep the minivan, Ram, Caliber
Chrysler:
Keep the 300 and minivan
Jeep:
Keep wrangler, grand cherokee, patriot, liberty

I feel as if Jeep could sustain itself for a while on just those platforms. Chrysler needs a midsize sedan that mimics the 300. Why not build it off of the Avengers structure? No matter what cars are axed, it won't make a difference unless quality is improved tremendously.

Dodge:
Keep the minivan, Ram, Caliber
Chrysler:
Keep the 300 and minivan
Jeep:
Keep wrangler, grand cherokee, patriot, liberty

I feel as if Jeep could sustain itself for a while on just those platforms. Chrysler needs a midsize sedan that mimics the 300. Why not build it off of the Avengers structure? No matter what cars are axed, it won't make a difference unless quality is improved tremendously.

Chrysler should cut the PT Cruiser, Sebring, 300 models other than the C, Aspen, Crossfire and Pacifica.

Dodge should cut the Caliber, Avenger, non 5.7 Magnum and Chargers, Durango, Dakota, Nitro, Sprinter and should redesign the Ram.
Jeep should cut the Compass, Liberty, Patriot and Commander

That will leave them with just their competitive vehicles.

Odd, I didn't hear anyone say PT Cruiser.

I would without hesitation nix the Nitro, Aspen, Commander and definitely Compass. All of those models have more successful siblings in the Chrysler lineup. That being said, removing them may not save as much as removing a model that is stand-alone, like the Pacifica (which I hope survives this round of 'lay-offs').
Chrysler needs a good small car and it needed it yesterday. Even if it has to steel one from Mitsubishi I think that should be a priority for them. I think the market is right for the small pickup truck to make a comeback as well. Chrsyler seems good at selling gimmick-type vehicles, and there is really no true SMALL truck on the market to compete with.

Definitely axe the Sebring, the Compass, and the Commander. Looks like Mopar doesn't know how to redesign the PT Cruiser, it's so long in the tooth it needs to be axed. Toss up between the Pacifica and the Avenger.

Update the Caliber and Sebring.

Keep the Avenger.

Axe the Nitro. Axe the commander. AXE the Durango.

Get rid of the Dakota.

Start over.

Better engines, better interiors, no CVT. Just be more competitive.

Oops, I forgot about the Nitro. That definitely needs the axe.

Oh, and PLEASE get rid of the PT, ASAP!

Dodge: Avenger, Nitro, Durango, Caliber, Dakota, Charger.

Chrysler: Aspen.

Jeep: Patriot, Compass, Commander.

I agree that the Pacifica deserves to stay in the lineup. The 300 has also been a major success as well as the Magnum but the Charger should be cut. If they figure out how to update the PT Crusier then it should stay, if not ax it as well.

Jeep should've never even introduced the compass, patriot or commander cause they're all so butt ugly! The Liberty needed a major redesign instead of a freshening of the existing platform.

The PT won't be axed cause it sells like the Ford Focus sell (decent volume) and all the developement costs have been paid.

The article stated the obvious Jeep Commander, Jeep Compass, and the Pacific. The Pacific I believe will be replaced with a new crossover. The Seabring is being copied in the side line, and do something about the hood. The Seabring looks bad in sedan form but better in convertible. I would say kill the Aspen cause its not unique enough. The Crossfire is also already being phased out since its a niche car. I guess that makes five with Commandar, Compass, Aspen (will continue for now), Pacific (annouced to being replaced), and Crossfire (annouced going away for a couple of years or forever).

I agree the Nitro and Liberty are duplicates but Dodge does need a smaller SUV when all the Durango Fans want a smaller SUV and stay in the fold.

The real problem I see is some of Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep dealerships are stand alone. They need to bring all brands under one room so they concentrate and clearify the brands Dodge and Chrysler. But that take some time and money they don't have yet. I think thats why you see overlap.

Keep the Avenger. That car is actually really fun to drive at r/t trim. Anyone that disagree's with that most likely has not driven one.

Chrysler axe: PT cruiser, Aspen, Sebring
Dodge Axe: Nitro, Durango,
Jeep axe: Compass, Commander.

Axe the sebring because it directly competes against the avenger and really isnt as attractive nor turn heads. (I currently own an avenger r/t and even new accord owners look on in awe at it)

Aspen,durango, and Commander were once good at sales but really are slowing down to gas prices.

Nitro was a dud to begin with. Same with compass.

PT cruiser saved chrysler before, if they actually did an update on it rather then refreshing it, they might see sales.

Jeep should stick with what they do really well, make a true off road capable vehicle even if it further becomes a niche market. Keep the Wrangler and Grand Cherokee. Work on variants of those two and drop in something edgy like the trailhawk concept. Drop everything else, the Compass (aka modern day Gremlin), the Patriot... a Jeep car, and the Commander with styling straight from 1978 and the Liberty. If the Chrysler group is concerned with the upcoming fleet fuel requrement standards then they should consider absorbing the Jeep vehicles in with the Chrysler brand but maintain the Jeep moniker like Ford does with the Mustang and Chevy with the Vette.

Chrysler should specialize in only car based vehicles and drop the useless Aspen. That being said start to remodel the entire car line which could definitely use a refresh namely the 300, Sebring, Crossfire & Pacifica. Drop the Mini-van from the line and keep that under Dodge as a high end trim. Also drop the PT cruiser which has unfortunately designed itself into a corner.

Dodge
Drop the Nitro, Caliber, Durango, & Charger (Challenger is coming out soon).
Keep the Minivan (Add a high end trim level), Ram, Dakota, Magnum, Avenger,the Journey, Challenger and Viper. Add the Demon concept roadster. Remodel the Avenger, Magnum and Dakota (please give that truck some personality!) Create a new small car to replace the Caliber.
Company Saved! ...hehe not really, but fix the quality & fit & finish issues and then maybe.

axe the whole company

axe the whole company

Scrap Dodge and turn it into a commercial vehicles company. Believe it or not that can help its image, think Volvo's or Mercedes's commercial truck business. Continue offering trucks to farmers and construction businesses along the lines of the current trucks line-up to build an aura to the brand: it will look like "the cars the commercial users drive" and give just a little mystique to the Chrysler name. Think of it: the interior of the 3500 RAM HD edition is something only real truck-users would get to see, and Chrysler can loose its "suburban assault vehicles builder" image.

Jeep should continue to be solely an off-road company, it cannot survive as a commuter car company. If it targets Hummer and Land Rover though (and more Land Rover than Hummer), it will succeed and be there for when people want SUVs again.

Chrysler is where the real work needs to begin. I just do not know of anyone under the age of 30 who considers Chrysler a luxury vehicles builder: considering that the Toyota Camry and Avalon are now using real wood trim and leather seats, that is understandable. What seperates a luxury can from a "normal" car today is not materials, its technology. Non-luxury cars from all brands have leather and wood, and seat heaters.
But you go to Lexus to get carbon-fiber interiors, touchscreen navigation and bleeding-edge power-train technology along with that edgy styling that puts off some, attracts like-mad others. Its not the edginess itself that is selling the cars: its that the styling stirs something deep inside someone that says "this car is me" and so what if it puts off 90% of luxury car buyers so long as that other ten percent all owns that car. Thats better than attracting half of all buyers but only 1% actually making the purchase.

The point is, Chrysler cannot compete in that realm: its still acting like this is the year 2000, when you could build a luxury car out of just materials. Chrysler is really competing right now not with Lexus, Mercedes or BMW, but with Hyundai, Honda, Toyota, Chevrolet and Ford. The class leaders are Toyota and Honda (with Hyundai not far off), so that is what kind of cars Chrysler should mimic. This is the segment where Hyundai can say "has more room than a 5 series" and sell cars based on that. The people buying that particular car ARE NOT 5 series buyers: those people are decidedly looking at a higher price point. But this part of the market is where people say "gee, I wish I had a Mercedes or BMW, but I cannot see myself spending that kind of money.... well at least I can have some of that in this lower priced car."

If Chrysler can begin competing against Toyota and Honda and Hyundai, then it can start regaining market share.

Do: make it apparent you are competing against Toyota and the Hs.
Do Not: ever advertising that you are an American car company. Do you see Japanese companies pumping their nationality? The last German company to ever talk about its German-ness was Mercedes, but now just like BMW and Audi they advertise their technology and engineering, whilst distancing themselves from nationalist xenophobia.

Do: build cars with DOHC engines, variable valve timing and cylinder shutoff.
Do Not: build pushrod engines or platform-share everything (if an engine wins a Wards Ten Best, pump that and then you can share it, but otherwise no).

Do: aim at a younger crowd.
Do Not: be like GM was two years ago and target 40 year olds and up. Most old people are either set in their ways or only buying used cars from the body styles they liked. Yes they have money, no they probably do not want to spend it as much as people between 20 and 40 do.

hmm where to start...
Bye Bye to:
Jeep: Compass and Commander
Dodge: Nitro and Dakota
Chrysler: Aspen and Sebring Sedan
Lets Fix:
Jeep Patriot: Give it a 6 speed auto and a V6 anyone?
Liberty: New engine and trans like NOW!
Dodge Avenger and Caliber: New engine and trans would help so much. Improve the interior too!
Durango: DO SOMETHING.. GM saved their large SUV's..
RAM: the new one couldn't be here any sooner!!!
Chrysler Pacifica: This vehicle needs to be redesigned and it will work!
PT Cruiser: Same as the Pacifica
Sebring: Keep the Convertible, give it a new interior. I would love to see a coupe as well. It does need to be redesigned.. cuz this thing looks like a baby Avalon instead of a baby 300!

Forget about cutting until you have something better to replace these vehicles with! These are at least holding some market share, and the tooling costs are already done. Improve the quality of these car and tweak them. This can be a learning experience for Chrysler. If theres a problem in the car just improve it and work on the quality issues! Don't cut anything until you have a better replacement!! And get into segments that you have a void, like small cars, midsized cars, ect.

Well there are some models that I believe if they redesigned it, it might be worthy to keep so here's a list that of cars I think they should axe and redesign to see how it goes:

Jeep:
Axe - Compass, Commander

Chrysler:
Axe - Aspen (seriously what was the point of it?), Pacifica, Crossfire
Redesign - PT Cruiser (should have been done 4 years ago)

Dodge:
Axe - Caliber
Redesign - Dakota, Durango

Tom L,

You are right on track!

all of their models need interior redesigns. keep the exterior, just move the interior up at least to where GM and Ford have their vehicles; nice but not great. right now the interiors of their cars are diplorable. some of their cars could be very nice ones if they could fix up the insides and engines so that they are more competative. the exterior styling is a bit of a strong point. enough with the 4 speed garbage. all of their models need to have at least 5 speeds, and enough with the CVT. they dont do it as well as nissan (if they can even do CVT well). all of their models need to have center head restraints. its a saftey thing.

Commander: stay. its one of the few decent vehicles. the only things it needs are a longer wheel base for more room for the second and third rows and a standard backup camera. torbocharge the V6 or something so that it makes over 300 hp, and people will be happy.

Wrangler: stay...they should improve the fit and finish. yes, it is meant for offroading, but c'mon. the interior looks like it was made in a plastic toy factory (maybe there will be a recall for lead paint in wranglers soon). 6 spd auto.

Grand Cherokee: stay. as with the wrangler, upgrade the interior. six speeds on all trims, not just the top level, 10 gallon to the mile trim.

Patriot and Compass: upgrade the interior, at least a 5 speed auto instead of that CVT junk.

Liberty: the new Liberty looks like a poromising installment, IF it has a much better interior than the last ones. a NEW engine and transmission are needed. enough with the four speed junk.

300: give it a redesign and make it a true flagship sedan that can compete with other luxury cars.

Aspen: this one is iffy. its to much like the durango. they need to have some options and features that can only be found on the aspen. Turbocharge the V6 so it puts out over 300 hp like in the commander

Sebring: total redesign. the new ones a flop and they need to make the Sebrin competetive again.

PT Cruiser: axe.

Pacifica: needs to have a longer and wider stance so that its third row is more comfortable and its second row can accomodate three passengers. head rests for the third row. c'mon.

Town &Country: the new one looks like it could acctually be a nice car. the base engine is underpowered and only has 4 speeds, but not many people are going to choose that one because it cant pass. the other engines are decent and the interior is nice...but this is a "luxury" (if you can call Chrystler that anymore...how about upscale?) brand, and hard plastic doesnt fly.

Avenger: stay. new, 50X better interior with 6 spds on all trims. MINIMAL plastic

Caliber: ditch the CVT. turbochrge the smaller I4's so that they can have a better hp and tourque output. better interior with MINIMAL plastic.

Grand Caravan: same as T&C

Charger: better interior, turbocharge the V6 so more will buy it.

Dakota: keep, same as others.

Durango: seriously upgrade the interior and as with the commander, turbo charge the V6 so that it has much mroe HP.

Magnum: also iffy...the high performance wagons are starting to fall to hatchbacks, and a family shopping for a wagon wants one that gets decent milage, like the Passat Wagon 2.0T, Volvo V50 or V70. enough with the 4 speeds. better interior if they want to even compete.

Nitro: also iffy. the exterior is young and new, but the interior really stinks. they need to make it more agile and not so top heavy. 6 sp. should be tied to the base engine. the ride needs to be improved.

Ram: keep, but make everything more fuel efficent while still keeping the really great power. new interior.

Viper: has great power. fix the tourqe steer. make it less tail happy. fix the gears (again). 500X better interior. forget the side sills. this is an 80K car. it should NOT have hard plastic or other super cheap materials, and shouldnt burn you if you get out wrong.

Chrysler needs to get their act together. Their dealerships are antiquated and have no real "master techs". Rarely you can find a decent mechanic at any Mopar dealership. With a chrysler product, that's not good. Product support is everything. As for products to axe here's my list.

Jeep : Ditch the compass..it's hideous, and the patriot is much more "jeep" if you can call that a jeep.

Chrysler : Dump everything but the minivan and the 300.

Dodge : Dump the avenger, make a light duty diesel half ton truck, lose the dakota, Unpimp the charger, stop putting a 2.7L engine in anything....timing chain? HELLO?

Bring back turbo 4 cyl car...those were great for their time. But obviously couldn't lifetime warranty those.

I find it funny that they are even having this conversation. Chrysler is admitting that they sell a lot of crap vehicles and this will do wonders for those who bought the vehicles who get axed. No better way than to say, "We screwed you with an inferior product."

Best thing Chrysler can do is introduce the industry's first $10,000 dollar rebate.

Hold on guys.

Even though Durango and Aspen are not selling well, these 2 products will not be axed as the 2-Mode Hybrid versions are coming early next year.

Chrysler would like to see how the Tahoe/Yukon Hybrids are performing when it goes on sale this December, then with their own product.

If the high oil prices impacts the gas prices, then the gas-guzzlers could become victims.

Time for them to start designing better & smaller vehicles. Dodge-Journey may be 1 product.

Chrysler brought SUV and Minivans, hope they bring new series of Hybrids as well with their new division.

i don't really like the whole doge brand so i think they should get rid of most of the cars and keep it to it's sports cars, which are quite respected and awaited for like the demon and the challenger, i think that they should redo most of the chrysler line up except the one i agree with is the 300 and i think they should downsize jeep and make it only a few models, you could just drop jeep and make it all chrysler but i think it has a bit to much history for that

get rid of the Caliber, Compass, Nitro, Liberty and the Patriot

I would eliminate:

Chrysler: Sebring, and Pacifica. PT Cruiser should be make like a cheap car, where people can do easy mods.

Dodge: Dakota. When you can buy a Ram cheaper than a Dakota, and you have a business, you are going to get the Dakota.
Caliber is doing good, and it is practical. Avenger with improved interiors would do great. Charger and Magnum are good.

Jeep: No Compass, no Commander, the Wrangler sell itself, the Patriot can be a cheap alternative with an useful hatchback and the Cherokee is still popular. Diesel in all of them.

Chrysler: 300, PT (minor mods, sell it untill they stop buying it) A "Super 300" Upmarket Sedan. Entry luxury RWD midsize sedan. Pacifica.

Kill: Aspen, Sebrings (all)

Dodge: Magnum, Charger, Challenger, Avenger, Avenger coupe/convert (use the left over Sebring roofs) Calibur, Caravan, Journey (?), Viper

Kill: the interior designer

Dodge Truck: Ram, Ram HD (commercial markets) Dakota, Sprinter replacement, (Wrangler based compact pickup) M-80?

Kill: Nitro, Durango

Jeep: Liberty, Patriot, Wrangler, Wrangler 4-door, Wrangler based pickup. (too much to hope for a Jeepster sports car?). Re-do JGC asap.

Kill: Commander, Compass (unless they immediately go after the WRX/Evo market with them, SRT-4 and they MUST go racing with them. Otherwise the Patriot can fill the bill)

Now that we will never see the trickle down effect of the Daimler-Benz I say kill 'em all and let God sort 'em out! That was Chrysler's last chance at major success. Seriously, they should stop trying to be GM and Ford and stop the stupid platform sharing. Why pay more for a Aspen when the Durango suits just fine. Chrysler has never appeared as premium luxury over Dodge. Ditto for the Jeep branding.

NO Chrysler should kill these 5 models Dakota,Durango,Pacifica, PT Cruiser & Commander an No Jeep should keep the 2 Jeeps Patriot & Compass an have them reworked the Compass set more toward women an the Patriot set more toward guys an keep them as compact suv's an the Liberty as midsize an the Cherokee as full size an play it like that.

IMHO the Commander is a good idea with room for improvement, but not deserving of the axe. More rear seat legroom, listen to your customers, make it more competetive with other fullsize SUVs. Cut the other Jeep products

I do not know why they are considering dropping the Durango. It is true the last restyling made it butt ugly, so go back to the basics.

Dakota is a decent pickup that is not selling horribly, so keep it.

The main point of the Commander was to give Jeep a 3-row SUV, but with such a small 3rd row (and no cargo space behind it to make up for it) it's kind of pointless. The Commander is a good idea, they just need to improve it.

I think that they need to bring back Plymouth. While most of Plymouth's products were able to be had as other models, it really did serve a purpose. Chrysler-Plymouth dealers weren't always paired with Dodge dealers...with proper execution Plymouth makes perfect sense. Chrysler can't be upscale like it wants with the $16,000 PT Cruiser, even when it was new.
Redesign some aspects of the Sebring and give it to Plymouth with a new name (other than Breeze). That way it still looks like a new model and isn't as awkward like the Ford Five Hundred-turned-Taurus. The Grand Voyager is an obvious returning model: make it 2nd row bench/Sto-and-Go only (no Swivel-and-Go) possibly as well.

"I think the market is right for the small pickup truck to make a comeback as well. Chrsyler seems good at selling gimmick-type vehicles, and there is really no true SMALL truck on the market to compete with."

Johnny t

The Ford Ranger is a true small truck.

one other thing they gotta do is lower the prices of all the jeep models, they have those ridiculous rebates anyway. If they lower the prices, then the rebates will be smaller and they wont look likt they are desperate to sell.

Today, I saw a Dodge-Avenger Flex-fuel model. It has a very small Flex-fuel badge, but when it comes to Hemi badge, its very big.

Why not Chrysler show the bigger Flex-fuel badge which will give more green credentials.

Instead of killing models, they can kill that Hemi engine and apply some fuel saving system like Cylinder Deactivation or Flex-fuel engine.

Today, oil prices touched $90 / barrel in overnight electronic trading.

Chrysler, Nix the crossfire, Sebring Sedan,Sebring Convertible and Aspen.
GM has the market for large SUV's so let them have it for now. Pull a name from the past like Saratoga that might resinate well with buyers and design a mid sized line of vehicles around it to replace the Sebring Sedan and convertible. The new line shopuld include a Sedan, Coupe, Convertible and small SUV / Wagon all on the same platform all with the same body structure and basic interion configuation. Quality, Quality Quality and don't forget a new advanced Highly fuel effecient power plant. Redisign from the ground up the PT and get a little more modern but don't loose the flavor. Double the fuel economy. Design a new Pacifica to compete with the likes of the new GM crossovers. I agree that the material stuff needs to be better for Chrysler models. The brand should compete as a premium not a luxury brand. This meens Toyota, Honda, Buick as it re-emerges and Murcury if Ford can ever get that brand back where it should be. The 300's redue needs to come now to sustain it's market possition. Nix the basic no frills model on all Crysler brand vehicles. A vehicle should be introduced as the way the majority would want to purchase it and then upgraded from there, not the reverse.

Dodge Nix Nitro, Avenger, Caliper and Magnum. Change ratically Dakota and Durango from what they are today. These two vehicles need to be in line with Nissans Pathfinder and mid sized truck. Charger redo needed now. Ram redo way over due concidering the new GM trucks and now Ford coming soon, lets not for get that ugly Toyota Tundra that the writers can't stop talking about. Nix the mid sized Dodge Avenger model for now, there is no mid sized Camrey sized Scion that I can think of so dodge doesn't need one either. What they do need however is a very high quality modern fuel efficient civic / carola beeter. Could be based on the same platform as the new PT. And yes lets spice things up a bit, I agree it's time for someone to produce a little pickup truck again and it would be nice if it had cool new styling kind of what Honda attenpted to do with that monstrocity it calls a truck only this time actually pull it off, but SMALL and FUEL EFFICIENT.

Jeep, Nix every new model introduced in the past three years, they all suck. Remake the others higher qualiy and more fuel efficient. And get the pricing under controll, they're Jeeps for god sake not Cadillacs.