2014 Chrysler 300 Base on 2040-cars

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Marchionne blames design 'dummies' for poor Chrysler 200 reception

I like the new Chrysler 200. In fact, we have one in the office this week, and every time I see it outside, I think to myself, "That's a really good looking car." But truly good automotive design allows form to perfectly blend with function, and that's where the 200 falls short – so short, in fact, that Chrysler's midsize sedan has yet to earn a full recommendation from the folks at Consumer Reports. The problem? That slick roof design. During an interview at the Detroit Auto Show this month, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said the 200's rear roofline compromised ingress and egress from the rear seats, and that's why CR can't fully recommend it. "The 200 failed because somebody thought that the rear-seat entry point inside the 200 – which is our fault, by the way – is not up to snuff," Marchionne said to Automotive News. Marchionne went on to say that FCA's designers copied the roofline of the Hyundai Sonata, which "has the same problem." He continued, "We didn't copy the car, we copied the entry point to the rear seat. Dummies. I acknowledge it." Harsh words, but Marchionne isn't alone in his sentiments. FCA design boss Ralph Gilles tweeted today, "He is right, we might have gone too aggressively after aero. Which we achieved as it is best in class. No free lunch." So yes, the 200 looks good. But following this incident, perhaps a redesign will ditch that sloping roof for something that's a bit more functional. Related Video:

Audi gets Q2 and Q4 badges in trademark swap with FCA

Audi has swapped trademarks with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to snare the rights to the Q2 and Q4 badges for upcoming crossover SUVs. Audi CEO Rupert Stadler confirmed at the Detroit Motor Show that the automaker had finally persuaded FCA to release the two names that would let Audi lock up the Q1 to Q9 badges for its growing SUV family. Audi already plans to drop the Q2 name onto its MQB-based city crossover five-door this year, while the Q4 badge will slot onto the rump of a coupe-like version of the next Q3. It will also reserve the Q1 badge for a 2018 baby crossover, based around the architecture of the next A1 hatch. The A1 will share a lot of its engineering with Volkswagen's Polo-based soft-roader, dubbed T-Cross in concept form. The German company has also pounced on the naming rights for SQ versions of all of its Q-cars, along with F-Tron to cover the day when it pushes hydrogen fuel cell cars into production. Stadler insisted that no money had changed hands in order to pry the two badges off FCA, admitting that they had "each found something we needed." "We promised each other we wouldn't disclose what it cost, but it was not something they were willing to sell," Stadler said. "We tried to get it years ago and they said 'No, never,' but there is never 'never' in business. ... This year I went back to them with a proposal and we talked and there were some negotiations and then we agreed to it." Those negotiations are believed to have centered on a trademark swap with a Volkswagen Group name that FCA desperately (evidently) wants to use on a Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Dodge or Maserati. Asked if Audi had given FCA a trademark in return for Q2 and Q4, Stadler replied, "Something very much like that, yes." Audi has used Italian names on past concept cars that FCA could be interested in, such as the 2001 Avantissimo concept and the 2003 Nuvolari coupe. The latter was named after legendary pre-war racer Tazio, who won grands prix for both Alfa Romeo and Audi's forerunner, Auto Union. Both are unlikely trade chips, with laws in Europe preventing the trademarking of the names of actual people. There is always "quattro" (Italian for "four"), but after investing nearly four decades locking it in as an Audi all-wheel-drive name, it's just not anything like trade bait.

Chrysler 300 could become an electric sedan for 2026

Australian outlet Drive says it got eyes on "insider information" that revealed Chrysler has an electric sedan in development. As has been practice for the Pentastar since long before Stellantis, this Chrysler four-door would be the platform sibling of an electric Dodge sedan, the Dodge version to arrive sometime in 2024, the Chrysler variant about two years later. Nothing in the documents identified the EV sedan as a replacement for the 300, but Drive lays out a trail of circumstantial evidence that points to this conclusion. The documents say the vehicles will run 800-volt electrical architectures, thought to mean they'll also get the most powerful versions of Stellantis' new electric motors making anywhere from 201 to 443 horsepower. And because of that, Drive expects these products to use the STLA Large platform, the platform an electric 300 would sit on. Chrysler's working up a range of new products as part of the numerous brand resets Stellantis committed to. In January, Chrysler CEO Christine Feuell told Automotive News the coming portfolio "will include a number of brand-new products that don't exist today, but also products that are still playing in segments that we're in already," calling out the fact that Chrysler only plays in the large sedan and minivan segments. Then she said, "Our intention is to redefine products for those segments, and they're certainly going to be a vast departure from what's in market today."  The automaker's first EV is expected to be the Airflow, teased during the Stellantis EV day last summer before being debuted at CES in January. With Dodge already making a muscle car, turning that into a product for Chrysler seems like a no-brainer. Thing is, Drive's information and Feuell's comments could be applied to the Airflow. It's on the STLA Large platform, will pack two motors producing a combined 402 hp, and fit a battery capable of juicing a 400-mile range. As far as we can tell, Chrysler has never called it a crossover yet. Not that the nomenclature would matter anyway, since any model name with brand equity can be turned into any other kind of vehicle (see: Aspen, Blazer, Maverick, et al). The Airflow name on an EV makes a logical tie to the original Airflow produced from 1937 to 1940, that original car so named because of its aerodynamic features. But if the Airflow EV hit the market as the new 300, we couldn't say we hadn't seen that trick before.