Here’s a tip- MAKE BETTER LOOKING CARS. The new Sebring has the sex appeal of a middle aged vietnamese whore.

Lets see:
Midsize Sedan: Sebring/Stratus went out of production several months ago with replacements (sebring) starting rolling off the line on Aug 30 and (Avenger)next year.

Compact: Caliber and compass doing well, but production was slowed… Patriot not released yet.

Subcompact: no offering. Hornet cannot come fast enough.

Truck: Dakota is dismal. Ram is OLD compared to competitors.

Minivns: Still the best sellers in their segment, but incredibly long in the tooth, and showing.

Large Sedan: Charger and 300 still selling well.

SUV: Durango is slow, new Aspens and Durango’s are just now reaching lots, but too little too late. Nitro should sell well, but is not on lots yet. GC/Comander doing well, but not as well as expected, Bluetec should help. Liberty is VERY long in the tooth, replacement a year off. Wranglers just now getting to lots.

DCX has a lot of product in the pipeline and there are a lot of changes over the next 2 years… but I can see how they currently have issues.

nothing in the D/C portfolio does anything for me. The viper is nice to look at but i would never own one. everything blends in witht he crowd…even the 300c is a dime a dozen anymore.

I think I am gonna buy a Chrysler 300C when my Cadillac SRX lemon has an unexpected tree fall on it. Reminds me, I need to get my chainsaw back from my neighbor.

I think 1952 MG TD pretty much said everything that needed to be said.

Yeah I think its too early to yell the sky is falling for Chrysler. They have things in the works and at least their cars are not blending in like say Ford.

Maybe a good deal can be had on an SRT-8??????

My brother has a Charger. My F150 5.4 liter actually gets better mileage. I like his car, but I’d expect far better mileage from the thing.

you expect a 5.4l truck engine to get better mileage than a 5.7l truck engine?

The changes to the engine from the trucks to the cars are minimal, if any, at best (like oil pan and clearances…)

If your brother has MDS and does not drive like a bat outta hell (I know I would…) he should get better. Otherwise, well…

Actually, I’d expect since it is towing a far more aerodynamic vehicle it could do better.
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One thing that always amazes me is that the so-called fuel sippers of today actually do not get better mileage than the 1986 Honda Accord that I bought as my first car. It was the 2.0 Liter LX (top of the line for the time) 5 speed and I averaged 33 to 35 mpg on the thing, combined. Today those are great numbers, supposedly. If they could do it 20 years ago, why not now?

Because so many safety features were added etc. IMHO, the true breakthrough will be when Carbon Fiber becomes affordable enough so they can use it everywhere…then we’ll see some great weight savings which should translate into better MPG.

DCX will will make around 5 billion euros profit which is still quite good even though most of the profit will come from Mercedes. Chrysler is changing quite a few models at the moment –

Sebring – Looks better in person should cary on where old one left off

Aspen – Should bring in SOME new customers not expected to be hit

Voyager – Spy shots looking very 300c. should look
wicked when it comes out

Avenger – Very nice will take the fight its rivals

Nitro – Same as the avenger

Durango – Getting old facelift should serve it till the new model comes out

Patriot – A true looking jeep should hopefully do well

Compass – KILL

If I love Mercedes-Benz product so much, how come I hate with a passion anything Dodge/Chrysler/Jeep brings out?

The only vehicles with increases through August were the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger sedans, Chrysler PT Cruiser compact sports wagon and the Dodge Sprinter commercial van.

Hey! The PT Cruiser is still hangin’ in there!

Ricardo Head:

Your 1986 Accord had an engine with maybe 110-120 bhp dragging around a car that weighs ~2500 pounds. A modern Accord, heck a modern Civic has anywhere from a 130-200 bhp engine driving a 3000 pound class car.

I don’t care how much technology progresses, you just can’t overcome the dual burden of bigger engines and heavier cars. And 1c3d0g is right, the heaviness is the main problem, which comes not only from safety features but all the other crap that gets put into cars nowadays (as in your old Accord didn’t have DVD players and LCD screens in headrests, another screen for the navigation unit, 13 map lights, CD changer with 10 speakers and a subwoofer, and like 14 cupholders in the cabin).

Wikedated you’re killing me! haha The new Sebring is U As F . What do they pay their designers anyway?! Good job with the Firepower though, ill give them that. Everything else is garbage. It doesn’t take much to know when you’ve designed a great car. Just look at it! For Christ’s sakes If its ugly more than likely it won’t sell. It’s not hard to figure out.

Tren, I fully understand that my 86 Accord was not as powerful nor did it have as many gizmos as today’s cars. I believe, however, that technology is supposed to overcome these issues as they are introduced and improve overall efficiency.
Yes, it can be argued that running more gizmos for the same gas is more efficient. Truth is a modern Accord however uses more gas than my (former) Accord, which means more dinero out of pocket for the same ride, or less efficiency. It’s kind of pathetic that if today I wanted the same fuel efficiency from a car that I had straight out of college, I’d have to take a stripper and step down an automotive level (to a Civic) compared to what I drove then.
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But hey, that’s the car game – I know how it goes. Just goes to show that it is not just the US companies that have been sitting on their duffs.

You mean the 300 won’t keep on selling in huge numbers FOREVER?? IMPOSSIBLE!

Part of the reason that fuel efficiency has dropped over the last few years has been government safety regulations. The 1986 Accord did not have dual airbags, rollover protection, side impact beams and other crap on them that has added at least 500 lbs to the average car. The other reason gas mileage has dropped is because of emissions regulations enacted since the democratic congress saddled us with largely unnecessary emmissions regulations that have reduced total emissions by only 10 percent more than the prior clean air act did in 1970. It is harder to actually quantify the difference caused by that, but there is little doubt that the equipment has added weight and cost to the vehicles. In some cases, emissions standards force comprimises to performance, etc that make it necessary to increase engine dispalcement to acheive the standards which are measured in parts per million….. More engine displacement, more fuel burned (as a rule).