Indie Auto reader George Denzinger recently submitted the following letter to the editor. He addresses some important issues, so I appreciate that he took the time to share his thoughts.
I know that Stellantis celebrated(?) Chrysler’s 100th anniversary, but it seemed to fly under the radar last year. I pay a fair amount of attention to the mainstream automotive industry, but I really didn’t get the sense that there was much celebration in marking the anniversary.
I guess maybe since their market share and product line up is so tiny these days, there just not a lot to get excited about. Copilot AI tells me there were several celebrations throughout the year, but it seems there was little coverage of the events.
Copilot AI summarizes the 100th anniversary celebrations of Ford, GM and Chrysler this way:
Ford: “We’re a proud American institution with deep roots and a strong future.” (2003)
GM: “We’re pivoting to the future — even in tough times.” (2008)
Chrysler: “We’ve survived 100 years and we’re reinventing ourselves again.” (2025)
Obviously, the 22-year stretch between the Ford anniversary and the Chrysler anniversary would result in differences in the nature of the celebrations, but during that time Ford and GM evolved into more robust companies. However, Chrysler (in its various iterations, (DaimlerChrysler, Cereberus, Chrysler-Fiat and Stellantis) has completely devolved into another set of vassal marques that may or may not survive the next decade.
Rearranging the deck chairs?
I recently saw a news article that Stellantis is considering merging Dodge and Ram (RAM!) brands, as if this were going to fix the fundamental problems Stellantis has with the current product mix. Between all the former Chrysler marques, Stellantis has mismanaged them far worse than Fiat-Chrysler did.
It may not matter to a large percentage of enthusiasts, but I feel as if I’m watching a disaster unfold in slow-motion. I hope I’m wrong.
— George Denzinger
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I looked at Stellantis’ 2025 US sales. Dodge sold 101k, of which 81k was the Durango. It’s easy enough to slap a Ram badge on the Durango and sell the rest with little or no change until interest dries up. Chrysler sales were abojt 126,000. All Pacificas and Voyagers, which is now simply a fleet trim level Pacifica. Alfa sells about 5600 per year, and FIAT 1300/yr. It’s not exactly a lot to celebrate. There isn.t even a Chrysler Corporation as such to celebrate. Well, I suppose you could get your bridge club to pile into the Pacifica and head off to Denny’s to catch the Early Bird Special.
Just realised that my son currently owns two vehicles: a Pacifica Hybrid and a ’56 Studebaker Power Hawk. He has also owned another Chrysler, another Studebaker, one Oldsmobile, two Pontiacs, and a Saturn. True!
Is he a jinx? No – he actually enjoyed them all (except the Saturn!).
Sad times for a once rock-solid company. l wonder if it will make vehicles as long as Studebaker did? Can it make a success of a re-invention (large doubts – slim chances) or will a boardroom decision mark the end of it (there are a lot more examples of that!)?
Walter was brilliant, but so was Durant in his own way, and Leyland, and Willys, and Chapin Sr., and Romney, and ….
Stellantis has any number of CUVs and SUVs that could be adopted to American tastes and marketed as Dodge and Chrysler. They’re not doing it and they’re showing signs all along of never doing it.
Dodge as a “muscle car” only brand was short sighted sugar high when that brand should have been maintained as a mainstream product line with some performance vehicles with Chrysler a step up. Dodge and Chrysler positioned as Honda/Acura. Jeep essentually fills that role on its own in a CUV/SUV focused market.
At this point saving Chrysler and possibly Dodge means treating them as startups or something like it, with billions spent on product and intense marketing. Doe’s anyone but the most ardent Mopar fan think this is likely to happen?
Don’t get me wrong. As an enthusiast with fond memories of Dodges and Plymouths past, I’d love to live in a world where I had the option of a mainstream Dodge or Chrysler as an option. The reality is that ship has sailed. When the Pacifica/Voyager have run their course Chrysler will sunset. Dodge likely isnt far behind. Sad.
I do give Stellantis/Chrysler some credit. They resurrected a 2 door sport coupe! Known as Charger. It appears faithful to the 1960’s original. So Dodge has a lifeline for now. Lets hope.
Chrysler. How about the Imperial to reign again? Using a stretched Pacifica. OR the Jeep Wagoneer frame. Something to keep the bloodline going. Could be interesting.
Why these revivals instead of new model concepts? It seems the Wagoneer was a modest success. Here in south Florida they are frequently seen. More so than the refreshed Lincoln navigator. Could it be that buyers are going with the intriguing newcomer rather than the very Ford-like Lincoln Navigator?
Stellantis – keep the surprized coming.
I agree with George that reintegrating the Dodge and Ram brands is, at least in isolation, merely rearranging the deck chairs of the Titanic. That said, they have got to prune their unwieldy stable of brands — and this is one of the quickest and easiest ways to do so in the U.S.
Stellantis may have quite rightly decided to bring back Hemi V8 options that had been prematurely discontinued. However, I would not be surprised if this results in fewer sales than they may have thus far expected due to Iranian war gas-price increases and a softening economy.
What’s particularly unfortunate is that Stellantis’s U.S. lineup has become so dependent on Jeep and Ram despite having access to a broad lineup of passenger cars in Europe. What’s taking them so long to start benefitting from product synergies?
Except for not having a small pickup truck, I believe Stellantis’ lineup with Dodge, Ram, and Jeep is competitive enough with what Ford and GM offer with their brands. Neither Ford nor GM offer sedans competitive with Camry and Corolla, and I don’t think Stellantis needs them either (though I wish Ford, GM, and Stellantis did still offer compact and mid-size sedans).
Perhaps it partly comes down to whether one thinks Stellantis can be successful with a “me-too” strategy rather than trying to innovate. In addition, how does it help Stellantis’s shaky economies of scale to not find more product synergies between its American and European arms?
Chrysler has been failing since 1955. Eventually it will succeed at it. Dodge and Ram should never have split, so I’m in favor of re-integrating them. The Charger occupies a good slot, now give us an honest ’60s Dart replacement. A new one, not something adapted for the USA. Ford & GM are about trucks, so focus on cars. Be Honda. Be Mazda. Don’t be Nissan. Jeep is doing well but they’re losing touch with the big picture and the product is less and less unique as transportation. Stick with Wrangler and give the luxury SUVs to another brand. Chrysler needs cars, minivans aren’t luxury icons. The 300 was great but went on too long. They need to be aspirational. Instead of shooting for Buick, go Mercedes-level. Maybe even Celestiq. Make a statement dammit!
Renault has some cars that might do well if configured for the US. But Chrysler is owned by the other French car company – Peugeot. Citroen’s and Peugeot’s offerings are less interesting and have never been very successful in the USA. Neither has Fiat.
I’ve been watching Chrysler struggle for so long that I no longer care what they do. They’ve been mis-managed worse than Studebaker and AMC combined. Let them go and we’ll add Tesla, Rivian or Slate to the Big Three.
I was just thinking that if you want a nice sedan, buy a clean CPO Mercedes Benz coming off lease. Honda/Toyota have Accord & Camry. I couldn’t even tell you if Cadillac has a sedan and BMWs all look strange now. No more “one sausage, three lengths.” I remember when the 300 first came out. We had one as a rental car for a vacation. It was more show than go, but it stood out from the crowd.
We have a big stand alone Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep/Ram plus Fiat, Alfa Romeo & Maserati dealer… not in an auto mall. It’s mainly Jeeps on the lot and a smattering of whatever the sportier cars are that look halfway retro. Love the colors. Every car has added up charges. I would never buy a car there. You just know they would be “consulting with the manager.” We have a Ram chassis on our B van, and every single time no matter what towels and mats we put down over the carpet, it’s filthy with greasy footprints. We do like the way the van drives and it’s been trouble free.
It’s like they took the not so great European cars and tried to sell them here. Maybe it’s too long for people nostalgic for Alfa or Fiat to come back (well, the offerings required compromises.)
People nostalgic for Alfa are in assisted living. People nostalgic for FIAT are heavily medicated. Then again, I’m nostalgic for Lancia. Where does that leave me?
Stellantis’s American arm could arguably have done a better job of drawing upon its European passenger-car lineup, but I don’t feel particularly nostalgic for the likes of the Fiat or Alfa Romeo brands.
I’ve spent a few minutes looking over the automaker’s European lineup (https://www.stellantis.com/en) and at first glance I could see at least some of their cars — they have quite a few smaller crossovers — being viable in the U.S.
It very well could have made more sense to badge cars brought to the U.S. as a Dodge or Chrysler. And now that tariffs are an issue, then it may come down to whether a car line would make sense to build in the U.S. — which, of course, is a more costly endeavor.
The devil is in the details, and perhaps there hasn’t been enough potential product synergies to do much more than they have done. If so, that doesn’t strike me as saying much about the viability of the combine.
Wow! Stellantis should hire the Indie Auto gang as consultants. They could do, and clearly have done, worse. Chrysler jumped the shark with the mild reskinning of the 300 about when, a decade ago? I can’t see it being saved at this point. I’m not familiar with their European product line. I do know that Alfa and FIAT bombed in the US and a lot of dealers lost money on the facilities. To the extent Americans think of French and Italian cars is that Italian cars are crap and French cars are weird. To me, the only Stellantis brand that would have any positive value in the US is Opel. Don, Jeep is sort of doing what you suggest. The Wagoneer is a separate brand in all but technicalities.It might have been a good idea to name the luxury SUV line Chrysler. Anyway, as someone else said that ship has sailed.