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Ralph Gilles talks minivans, Millennials, mobility, and kissing Alfa Romeos

We sat down with Ralph Gilles, the global head of design for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show. The veteran stylist has worked for the company for 25 years, and oversees the design of all of the products in the FCA portfolio – everything from mobility pods to Maseratis. This serves Gilles just fine, as his personal automotive interests are exceedingly diverse. The FCA stand was unusually quiet (until Vice President Joe Biden stopped by at the end of our time there) and Gilles was willing to weigh in on a wide range of subjects. Autoblog: We're seeing all of these autonomous mobility pods like Portal being presented at auto shows like CES or NAIAS, but we're not seeing any adoption of this kind of small vehicle in the market. What's your perspective on our pod-like autonomous future versus our truck-centric present? Ralph Gilles: Obviously I pay attention to the industry as much as your readers and yourself, and everyone has a take on the future. We had a debate, we could have done a supercar or something for pure sex appeal [ apparently that's also in the works], but we chose something practical, to really look at the future in a different perspective. We have these Millennials, a huge swath of people born between 1982 and 2004, and the oldest ones are turning 35 right about now, and a lot of them are having families later in life but when they have them they have a little more buying power, so it makes for an interesting cocktail. The one stipulation we had on the Portal project was that everyone had to be a Millennial to be on the team. So that excluded me, I had more of a coach role on the team. And to your point, the Portal in its current state as you see it is not going to be on the road tomorrow. But there's a lot of ideas, a lot of connectivity ideas, a lot of styling ideas, even lighting and technologies that will absolutely find their way into vehicles in the next few years. AB: Being a Detroiter, all of this attention we've had recently in Vegas, CES – I heard that they're maybe going to be running the show at the same time next year. Do you feel a little protective of the Detroit Show? RG: Yeah, it's something to watch. I hope it's not an aggressive thing on their part, by moving the shows on top of each other. They're both important shows. CES, I've been going to for the last five years, and it's changing. There's a lot more automotive content, but there are a lot more start-ups too, and it's interesting to watch.

Buying bang for your buck: Chrysler 300 and Kia Cadenza

In today's car market a Chrysler or Kia with a base price of $30K can easily become $45K, just by checking a few random boxes. You can do the math – that extra $15K will cost you $300/month over the life (and death) of a 60-month payment book. If your goal is only to get places in a stylish sedan capable of staying with traffic, you can keep your outlay far closer to the base price of these cars. Although they may not appear on many shopping lists, there's a lot to like in the lower-spec versions of both Chrysler's 300 and Kia's upscale Cadenza. The Chrysler is relatively ancient among current product platforms, while the Cadenza was Kia's first upmarket initiative, now supplemented by the larger K900 and the fall debut of Kia's Stinger GT. But you will not find a better transportation value in a Kia showroom than its underappreciated Cadenza. Here's a closer look at both: CHRYSLER 300: This car is a testament to all that was right about the DaimlerChrysler merger of the late '90s. At the time of the 300 introduction, elements of its platform were taken from the Mercedes E-Class, and with proportions suggesting a mix of stately American and neoclassic German, the 300 continues to offer a "just right" mix of respectable accessibility. The guy owning the package store could "Dub" it, while Miss Daisy would have been eminently comfortable in its back seat. In 2017, the 300 is an outlier in the sedan landscape. This is a large four-door with rear-wheel drive (all-wheel drive is optional). But in a sea of Accord this or Avalon that, the 300 impresses as an almost-relevant update of sedans in your murky past. The attachment to Chrysler products of 50 years ago goes beyond the Hemi that might be under the hood; it's the entire vibe of a car company trying hard to distinguish itself in today's marketplace. Despite numerous updates, the Chrysler still seems last century, and that's just fine with older drivers with the cash – or credit rating – to consider a $40K car. Behind the wheel, Chrysler's 300 exhibits all we love about American motoring. You would never confuse the handling with 'crisp,' but it's competent, while the ride is almost sublime. This is a car that in fully-loaded form deserves a Hemi, but the V6 is generally unobtrusive, and might net you 30 mpg on the highway. The conventional, 8-speed automatic goes about its business exactly as an automatic should.

Fiat Chrysler cuts 2018 outlook, shares tumble on weaker quarterly profit

MILAN — The news of former Fiat Chrysler chief executive Sergio Marchionne's death arrived Wednesday moments before the group reported a surprisingly heavy drop in profit. The death of one of the auto industry's most tenacious and respected CEOs overshadowed a big selloff in Fiat Chrysler shares. FCA's scheduled second-quarter earnings presentation, led by Marchionne's successor and former lieutenant Mike Manley, began on Wednesday afternoon with a moment of silence. As eulogies flooded in, FCA shares fell as much as 10 percent as investors digested an unexpected 35 percent fall in net profit, well below market forecasts. Marchionne rescued Fiat and Chrysler from bankruptcy after taking the wheel of the Italian carmaker in 2004 and he multiplied Fiat's value 11 times through 14 years of canny dealmaking. He was due to step down at FCA in April next year. "The best way to honor his memory is to build on the legacy he left us, continuing to develop the human values of responsibility and openness of which he was the most ardent champion," Chairman John Elkann added. On Saturday, FCA named Jeep division head Mike Manley, 54, as head of the world's seventh-largest carmaker, saying the Briton would execute a strategy that Marchionne had outlined in June. FCA has said Manley will work to ensure a "strong and independent" future for the group. Underlining the task facing Manley, FCA cut its full-year earnings outlook after the weaker-than-expected quarterly earnings. Having to deliver the bad news four days into his new job, Manley blamed the result on a weaker performance in China, a market that represents one of new CEO's immediate headaches. "The biggest challenges we face and frankly we're going to continue to face ... are all focused in China," Manley said. FCA has yet to make any significant inroads in China. In Marchionne's June plan, FCA pledged to boost production of sport utility vehicles and invest in electric and hybrid cars to double operating profit by 2022. It unveiled bold targets for Jeep, FCA's profit engine. FCA said adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) for the April-June period fell 11 percent to 1.7 billion euros ($1.99 billion), compared with 2 billion euros in a Reuters poll of analysts. Chinese demand slumped in the quarter ahead of a July cut in import duties, resulting in higher incentive spending and an increase in unsold vehicle stocks that "particularly affected Maserati," Manley said.