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Chrysler news! The 2026-27 plans, the Centennial celebrations, and how we got to this point
Jun 4, 2025
Chrysler’s past and future come together as we talk about Christine Feuell’s interview with the Freep and put it into context... it’s over a century since people started buying Chrysler cars now!
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0:00
this is Dave from Stell Power and Motel
0:02
and in the background you might hear a
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cat whining that is the Tom Cat and I'm
0:07
here to talk about Chrysler after the
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Detroit Free Press did an interview with
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Chrysler's leader Christine i believe
0:16
that the name is pronounced Fuel i'm
0:17
probably wrong saw Christine F and she
0:20
was talking about the future of Chrysler
0:22
and some changes to how the brand how
0:25
the mark would be defined because you
0:29
know just a few years ago they are
0:30
talking about Chrysler being an
0:31
all-electric brand and then they were
0:33
saying that they would only start with
0:35
800 volt vehicles for extra fast
0:38
recharges and since 800vt vehicles at
0:41
Stalantis were delayed by at least a
0:43
year the anniversary of Chrysler cannot
0:45
be celebrated on its anniversary in 2024
0:49
instead they'll celebrate the 100th
0:51
anniversary over 101 years after
0:54
Chrysler came out after the first
0:56
vehicle was made unveiled and sold in
0:58
January
0:59
1924 instead we're going to have the
1:02
anniversary in 1925 and today we learned
1:05
that they still won't have product ready
1:07
even though they delayed the anniversary
1:09
for a year again they also did it for
1:11
the 90th anniversary they delayed it by
1:14
a year keeping in mind this is Chrysler
1:16
the mark not Chrysler Corporation that
1:19
they're celebrating so the 100th
1:20
anniversary the 90th anniversary
1:23
delaying a year so that we have product
1:24
to sell as we celebrate it i understand
1:27
that it's a good marketing trick we
1:30
we're 100 years old here's our special
1:32
new car we don't have any for 2024 so
1:35
we'll make it 2025 then we'll have a new
1:37
car i'm just surprised that they're
1:38
doing the anniversary celebrations in
1:40
2025 because now we find out that the
1:43
new vehicle is delayed until 2027 or so
1:46
it's for the new crossover there might
1:48
be a minivan refresh or there might not
1:51
uh we're not sure about that that uh
1:54
would have been due already or it would
1:55
be due in 2026 we'll find out when it
1:58
comes there is also supposed to be a new
2:00
car coming out and that would probably
2:03
be a version of the Charger but looking
2:05
like a Chrysler uh you could argue the
2:09
Wagon Ear S should have been that
2:11
vehicle because it's sure not a Jeep is
2:13
it i mean it's got traction control fine
2:16
select track uh but it's not really a
2:19
Jeep the approach angle is too small the
2:22
breakover angle is way too small there
2:24
are no skid plates on the bottom as far
2:26
as I know there's no trail rated version
2:28
it's not an off-road Jeep it's an
2:31
electric vehicle that has the Jeep name
2:34
on it and a Jeep grill on it so really
2:37
that's kind of the Chrysler version
2:38
because it's a more luxury oriented
2:40
version of the electric car than the
2:43
Dodge Charger is although the Charger
2:45
and the Wagon Ear S have an awful lot in
2:48
common where does Chrysler fit these
2:51
days well it's not the electric car
2:52
brand anymore uh that's been jettisoned
2:55
and now it's going to come out with a
2:58
gasoline hybrid version of the crossover
3:00
first before maybe possibly probably not
3:04
doing an electric version of it it It's
3:06
kind of interesting chrysler's been
3:07
repositioned almost constantly since it
3:09
came out in 1924 and at that point
3:12
Walter Chrysler had positioned it
3:14
against Buick the price ranges were very
3:17
similar a lot of things between the
3:19
Chrysler and the Buick were very similar
3:21
they were aimed at the same market
3:22
except that the Chrysler was much more
3:25
technologically sophisticated over time
3:27
Chrysler then added the Imperial to try
3:30
to get more towards the Cadillac range
3:32
and maybe yes compete with Packard a bit
3:35
but then he also took the Maxwell took
3:38
the Maxwell name off of it slapped on
3:39
the Chrysler name and sold that as the
3:41
Chrysler 52 uh the branding was all over
3:44
the map back then it's all over the map
3:46
back right now except that today it
3:48
takes years for any change to take
3:50
effect and back then the changes were
3:52
pretty darn quick so 1926 you have the
3:55
Chrysler 52 1928 no oops now it's a
3:58
Plymouth ironically of course the year
4:01
that the uh Maxwell became a Plymouth
4:04
instead of a Chrysler is also the year
4:05
it got hydraulic brakes which was until
4:09
the Chrysler four-cylinders came out the
4:11
hallmark of the Chrysler was their great
4:15
engine which was much more powerful than
4:17
others at the time for its size and uh
4:21
the uh hydraulic brakes were another key
4:23
factor but this is 2025 so Chrysler is
4:27
going to celebrate their anniversary
4:28
with an exclusive event for favored
4:31
writers and uh favored influencers
4:34
presumably anywh who so where what where
4:37
is Chrysler going from here is there
4:40
going to be a Chrysler it's really hard
4:41
to know what they're planning what
4:43
they're doing i mean Buick today is a
4:47
slightly more upscale Chevrolet which is
4:50
traditionally where Chrysler has been
4:52
for se for decades and decades and
4:54
decades you know through the 50s and
4:59
early 60s the Chrysler was very similar
5:02
to the Dodge but it was bigger and
5:05
started with a bigger engine and ended
5:07
with a bigger engine and then they
5:09
started sharing the bottom Chrysler with
5:12
the top Dodge that happened quite some
5:14
time ago you know that's been going on
5:16
for ages but then they started
5:18
standardizing the engine uh they
5:19
basically said "Okay it's the same for
5:22
everybody with rare exceptions." And
5:24
then you had the Cordoba which was a
5:27
fancy B-body Plymouth separated by trim
5:31
and sound insulation from the Plymouth
5:33
but from the Dodge uh the Charger that
5:35
they came out with they called it the
5:37
Charger SE there was really no
5:39
difference between the Charger SE and
5:41
the Chrysler Cordoba and that started
5:44
the pattern that went on through the
5:46
years uh it was the bestselling Chrysler
5:49
by far partly because of price partly
5:52
because it was the right car for the day
5:54
then you had in the 80s Leaka decided
5:56
that he would separate out Plymouth by
5:59
restricting its range dramatically
6:01
chrysler would take up where Plymouth
6:03
left off which made sense to a large
6:05
degree because Chrysler and Plymouth
6:07
were sold at the same dealers that made
6:09
no sense but it was done in the
6:11
depression and nobody ever changed it
6:13
and by the time that they got that they
6:16
realized probably that they should
6:18
change it they couldn't because the
6:19
Chrysler dealers would have risen up and
6:21
sued them because they were mainly
6:23
volume was mainly Plymouth where do you
6:25
get your imperial fixed well you get it
6:27
fixed at the Plymouth dealer where do
6:28
you buy your Imperial at the Plymouth
6:30
dealer who can take a Plymouth ser who
6:33
can take a luxury car seriously when you
6:36
buy it at the value brand dealer with
6:38
all that that implies they they
6:41
invariably had the same showrooms and
6:43
the same service bays and the same
6:44
people handling Chrysler Imperial and
6:47
Plymouth it made no sense at all because
6:50
you would get a Plymouth experience when
6:52
you bought your hideously expensive
6:54
Imperial and you can hear the complaints
6:55
in the background even the cat knows
6:58
that that was a bad idea and then Dodge
7:00
of course their dealers figured that
7:02
they needed a full line of everything
7:03
Chrysler and Plymouth had except for the
7:06
top cars which didn't sell at all anyway
7:08
because that was the nature of Dodge
7:10
dealers mostly uh they kind of forgot
7:12
that they sold trucks and vans which
7:15
were exclusive to Dodge well the trucks
7:17
were the vans plymouth sometimes sold
7:20
vans but they usually didn't sell as
7:22
well people expected to go to a Dodge
7:24
dealer for trucks and vans so that's
7:25
where they went it was difficult for
7:27
Chrysler and Imperial imperial died
7:29
first they starve Plymouth so much that
7:32
Plymouth uh sales started actually
7:35
dropping below Chrysler and at that
7:37
point they decided to get rid of
7:38
Plymouth entirely which would have made
7:41
some sense if they had consolidated
7:44
dealerships then consoled Chrysler
7:47
dealers with the Dodge franchise and
7:48
moved all the Plymouths to Dodge which
7:50
wouldn't take a whole lot of movement
7:52
because all that Plymouth had that was
7:53
unique at that time was the upcoming PT
7:57
Cruiser and the Prowler Dodge Prowler
7:59
might not have made much sense but that
8:01
card served its purpose it told Chrysler
8:03
how to work with aluminum which was the
8:06
car's real goal it had been also
8:09
supposed to test the waters for making
8:13
retroos and that was supposed to be
8:15
Plymouth's new identity forget about
8:17
value brand that doesn't mean anything
8:19
forget about separation by having a
8:22
weaker engine now we would separate
8:24
Plymouth by making it retromod and so
8:26
the PT Cruiser was the first true test
8:29
after the Prowler prowler tested the
8:31
styling and it would have been followed
8:34
by the same treatment for the Plymouth
8:35
Voyager by the time that it was really
8:38
ready the decision to cancel Plymouth
8:41
had been made and so they did a odd
8:43
thing then they assigned the Plymouths
8:45
to Chrysler so that Chrysler dealers
8:48
wouldn't sue them for dropping Plymouth
8:50
you got a Chrysler Voyager that was a
8:51
bottom-end car you got the PT Cruiser
8:54
for Chrysler that was really too
8:55
inexpensive and too small for Chrysler
8:59
and you got a base model of the Chrysler
9:02
Sebring and you got the Chrysler Prowler
9:04
which made as much sense as a Dodge
9:07
Prowler and so Chrysler became the
9:10
people mover brand as later leaders of
9:13
Chrysler would call
9:15
it and it was not really differentiated
9:18
from Dodge very well although it was
9:20
still Dodge Sporty Chrysler Luxury
9:23
Chrysler Comfort Dodge Sporty and that
9:26
worked until the 2008 minivans when they
9:29
both had the same tuning and the same
9:32
engines so now it was Chrysler and Dodge
9:35
identical so what they did there it's
9:38
the only vehicle I know of where they
9:40
did this they had Dodge at the entry
9:42
levels and then Chrysler took up for the
9:44
premium levels and that actually made
9:46
some sense that's the way Dodge and
9:48
Chrysler were supposed to work and had
9:50
historically worked but they didn't keep
9:53
it up and the Seabbring Avenger were not
9:55
separated that way so Chrysler kind of
9:59
was wandering in the wilderness because
10:00
they killed off Plymouth and Chrysler
10:02
did not have a unique place to be
10:04
meanwhile Dodge became the muscle car
10:06
brand all about Hemis and tire smoke and
10:09
that probably wasn't a great idea and
10:11
Dodge got there much the same way as
10:13
Chrysler got to be the everyman car at
10:15
Chrysler Corp at at former Chrysler
10:17
Corporation just kept on killing Dodges
10:20
until all that was left was the muscle
10:22
cars so they killed off the uh Avenger
10:26
they killed off the Caravan admittedly
10:28
well past its sell by date and that left
10:32
the uh Challenger the Charger the
10:35
Durango known for its V8s and then they
10:39
threw in the Hornet but I don't think
10:40
anybody really takes the Hornet too
10:42
seriously so Dodge got its own little
10:45
niche a niche that could go away at any
10:47
moment you never know so that's where we
10:50
are now chrysler has an identity that is
10:53
largely built around or not
10:56
Dodge what's their one vehicle well as
11:00
we celebrate the 100th anniversary it's
11:02
the modern although outdated Chrysler
11:04
Pacifica minivan that's been out really
11:08
too long without having a major uh
11:11
upgrade then you've also got the Voyager
11:14
in the US and the Caravan in Canada uh
11:18
they count those as separate models we
11:20
all know that they're not separate
11:21
models they they say Chrysler has four
11:23
models it's got one it's the Pacifica
11:26
doesn't matter how many names you slap
11:28
on it it's still the Pacifica it doesn't
11:30
change very much from model to model so
11:33
that's where we are with Chrysler today
11:35
is they're talking about new models
11:38
they're talking about a new identity for
11:40
it what will that identity be the
11:42
Houseion came out that was the concept
11:44
car it's clearly a concept car it's
11:46
clearly not a practical car and it seems
11:50
to date back to the Dodge M4S concept
11:53
from years back and to the Wraith car in
11:56
its basic styling but it's much more
11:59
advanced and evolved from that we don't
12:01
know where it's going but the good news
12:04
is that we're pretty sure it is going
12:06
somewhere because that is what we have
12:08
been told as of today is that Chrysler
12:11
is not being dropped and Antonio Felosa
12:15
the head of Stalantis
12:18
uh actually wrote to Walter Roads the
12:20
great grandson of Walter Chrysler and
12:22
told him "Chrysler is not going anywhere
12:24
we're going to keep Chrysler we value
12:26
Chrysler." So that's the good news
12:28
anyway I'll see you soon thank you for
12:30
listening to me and thank you for
12:32
letting me give this little history
12:33
lesson and an update on where we are
12:36
today hey guess what you don't have to
12:39
listen to my awful voice to get
12:41
information out of me you can actually
12:42
read it in this great book Century of
12:45
Chrysler which I wrote specifically to
12:48
cover a 100red years of Chrysler from
12:50
1924 to yes 2025 and at this rate 2026
12:56
it's at Amazon there's a copy at Apple
12:59
Books there's also an old text version
13:02
that you can get on Amazon and a hard
13:05
cover if you really like your books to
13:07
look nice i would be remiss if I did not
13:09
point out that I also have a history of
13:11
Chrysler minivans called Mopar minivans
13:15
also sold as the rise and reinvention of
13:18
Chrysler minivans and the great thing
13:20
about that book is it has all sorts of
13:22
stories from the guys who are involved
13:24
in designing and making the vehicles
13:26
themselves so it it is a book that has
13:30
lots of stories and I also have a book
13:33
on all the generations of the Dodge
13:35
Viper that's available via Valuchcci
13:37
books or on Amazon or at Barnes & Noble
13:40
and I have a book on all sorts of Jeeps
13:43
if you want to see all of them together
13:45
go to my website dave.z
13:48
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