What happened to Dodge & Chrysler?

SC Maintenance said:
I realize there are about as many Nissan fan's here as there are flat earth society members at NASA. But there not really the same issues.

Nissan sales are growing - especially in Japan.

Nissan profit per vehicle is increasing - globally.

Ghosn ruined them. Since Renault, nor Mitsubishi could ever get traction in the USA, they leaned on Nissan. They followed the same BS strategy they tried with Mits in the late 90's - make cheap, bad cars and sell them by financing people that otherwise did not deserve financing. It ended the same.

The Japanese have retaken control. There getting rid of the CVT's slowly. There trying to return to the original Nissan model - build only a few models, make them simple and highly reliable and cheaper than Toyota. It served them well for years, they just forgot in recent years. The Nissan's in my signature are the most reliable vehicles I have ever owned by a long shot.
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I've enjoyed my ownership of Nissan's. I had a bad experience with Honda and my dad loved Toyota's - that ruined the brand for me.

I over maintain my cars and most everything with moving parts, so my experience with Nissan might not be typical? However I see lots of Canadians driving older Nissan's so there must be something we like.
 
The electric Dodge Charger is coming off the line in Windsor.

A4EF6380-C9B7-4032-9716-CE3C39F3756B.jpeg
 
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SC Maintenance said:
And to think, GC used to compete with things like 4-Runner, and tout off road prowess.

Its now glorified minivan.

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The late 90’s to early 00’s Durangos were decent too. I had one with the 4.7L V8 and it was a pretty capable midsize SUV at an affordable price. It turned into a large frumpy crossover looking thing around 2003. Just a minivan on steroids pretty much.
 
andrew_j said:
They are struggling with their own name Dodge. You can’t get past that with majority of consumers.

Jeep and RAM is all they have.
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Have you stopped seeing Durangos, Chargers and Challengers? No? Neither have I. I don't think they have as a big a problem with Dodge as they do with Chrysler. When is the last time you saw a Chrysler? I see the odd 300 here and there, that's about it. Dodge is getting new product, Chrysler has literally just the Pacifica, unless that changes, it's a brand on its slow walk to the place Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Mercury went.
 
ATex7239 said:
The late 90’s to early 00’s Durangos were decent too. I had one with the 4.7L V8 and it was a pretty capable midsize SUV at an affordable price. It turned into a large frumpy crossover looking thing around 2003. Just a minivan on steroids pretty much.
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The WK2 Durango has been made available with a 707HP 6.2L V8, and a 475HP 6.4L V8. This is in a longitudinal configuration obviously, into a standard transfer case arrangement. That's a far cry from a minivan, it's just a stretched (WK2) Grand Cherokee.

They are plenty capable, and the driveline is pretty solid with the ZF 8HP.
 
OVERKILL said:
Have you stopped seeing Durangos, Chargers and Challengers? No? Neither have I. I don't think they have as a big a problem with Dodge as they do with Chrysler. When is the last time you saw a Chrysler? I see the odd 300 here and there, that's about it. Dodge is getting new product, Chrysler has literally just the Pacifica, unless that changes, it's a brand on its slow walk to the place Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Mercury went.
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I thought the charger and challenger are now done - 2023 last year?

I know there working on the electrified muscle cars, but that is really a different market - if for no other reason than price. The charger / challenger were affordable and I am guessing the electric will not be. Different customer set IMHO - I doubt buyers will transfer.

That leaves the Durango and Hornet (which is not selling). Sounds pretty thin. Not as thin as Chrysler though.

How about a Dodge Dacia Duster?
 
OVERKILL said:
Have you stopped seeing Durangos, Chargers and Challengers? No? Neither have I. I don't think they have as a big a problem with Dodge as they do with Chrysler. When is the last time you saw a Chrysler? I see the odd 300 here and there, that's about it. Dodge is getting new product, Chrysler has literally just the Pacifica, unless that changes, it's a brand on its slow walk to the place Oldsmobile, Pontiac and Mercury went.
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The Chargers/Challengers are not very popular in my locale. Nor is Durango.

Just cops drive them mostly here.
 
SC Maintenance said:
I thought the charger and challenger are now done - 2023 last year?

I know there working on the electrified muscle cars, but that is really a different market - if for no other reason than price. The charger / challenger were affordable and I am guessing the electric will not be. Different customer set IMHO - I doubt buyers will transfer.
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There are multiple versions of the new Charger, that includes a fully electric one. There is still a regular ICE version as well. The LX Charger/Challenger have now been transitioned to the new "Charger".
SC Maintenance said:
That leaves the Durango and Hornet (which is not selling). Sounds pretty thin. Not as thin as Chrysler though.
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See above. They are at least getting fresh product, unlike Chrysler.
SC Maintenance said:
How about a Dodge Dacia Duster?
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They seem to struggle to sell small stuff (see: Dart). The Durango sells well, as did the LX cars, and they milked that platform for all it was worth. That's a decent strategy, if you can make it work.
 
OVERKILL said:
The WK2 Durango has been made available with a 707HP 6.2L V8, and a 475HP 6.4L V8. This is in a longitudinal configuration obviously, into a standard transfer case arrangement. That's a far cry from a minivan, it's just a stretched (WK2) Grand Cherokee.

They are plenty capable, and the driveline is pretty solid with the ZF 8HP.
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The newer ones have far better styling than the Gen 2’s for sure. I was commenting more on its bloated minivan like appearance. Not the powertrain specifically.

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andrew_j said:
The Chargers/Challengers are not very popular in my locale. Nor is Durango.

Just cops drive them mostly here.
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Agreed.
OVERKILL said:
Was just in NC, saw tons of them, just like I do here in Ontario. What's popular in your area?
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https://www.kron4.com/news/californ...in-california-in-2023-and-its-not-even-close/

That list is fairly accurate, though in my area I see a lot of the large GM SUV's and Silverado/F-150's.

I will also say that stuff over 7 years old is getting more rare by the day.
 
OVERKILL said:
There are multiple versions of the new Charger, that includes a fully electric one. There is still a regular ICE version as well. The LX Charger/Challenger have now been transitioned to the new "Charger".
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I am open to the idea - if they can keep them priced to everyman.

OVERKILL said:
They seem to struggle to sell small stuff (see: Dart). The Durango sells well, as did the LX cars, and they milked that platform for all it was worth. That's a decent strategy, if you can make it work.
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The Dart was a car. The few that want a small car go to the Japanese - that is there market and would be really hard to crack.

The duster is a small SUV with a little softroader flair. GM is doing well with its Trax. It would attract that customer set - if they can keep it priced right. I honestly think there is space in that market. The Japanese have left it open with the lackluster Corrolla Cross and HR-V. Nothing wrong with them, but nothing great either.
 
Hornet is horribly priced.
If they were mid 20's with some low30's for loaded models it would sell.

Just like the jeep compass that can now surpass $40,000
and not nearly as nice as my 2017 or 2019 cherokees ($27,000 $28500)
 
Seems like it’s popular to bang on the Chrysler brands. Certainly there has been news around Stellantis lately. Chrysler is really just the Pacifica van now but it is not like there are standalone Chrysler dealers, at least near me the dealers are all Jeep, Dodge, and Ram dealers as well, so if the Pacifica sells it is really besides the point that it is the only Chrysler branded vehicle. It’s not like with Pontiac or Olds where they needed to come up with an entire lineup.

As far as the rest of the brands, Dodge is very common in the mid Atlantic. The Challengers and the Chargers have a strong following, with prices to match, and I often see them at cars and coffee type events in my area. The new ones will be electric as I hear it and they didn’t butcher the styling; they look good in photos at least. The Durango is another sleeper - a muscle car style SUV built on the same platform as the Grand Cherokee and still very handsome even though it is a mature design. The Hornet has been a sales disappointment but I wonder if that is for the price being too great - it is a rebadged Stelvio and perhaps needed to be more like a Honda HRV or a touch below the CRV.

As far as Jeep goes sales have been down but I think that is a product of their high price - perhaps Tavares got carried away with the premium pricing model - and the higher cost of money. But the brand is an icon and one that would sell in a heartbeat. The new Wagoneers are also fantastic - we put 2k miles on an L model and I was impressed with the performance and quality of what amounts to small bus. And Ram? I doubt those who bash Rams have driven one lately. The 1500 is still the class of that market, and the competition is no slouch - GM, Ford, and Toyota all have traditionally made excellent half ton trucks.

All the dealers of all brands in my area are jammed with inventory. I think the economy has been more challenging for many consumers than some of the news reports let on, and combined with higher interest rates the product is sitting.

Long way of saying I wouldn’t write off any of the traditional Chrysler brands because the underlying product is very competitive. Folks bashing them probably have not, with all due respect, owned or driven one lately.
 
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