As I said earlier, I would drop the Sebring sedan. I would continue to sell the convertible for now. I think the next Chrysler brand midsize sedan should be built on a shortened version of the next generation 300 rear wheel drive platform. I would call the car “LeBaron” or “Concorde” and would offer it in sedan and coupe-cabrio (hardtop convertible) configurations (the Sebring convertible could be dropped when the new car reaches the market). I would maybe add a wagon variant since this vehicle configuration tends to be popular in regions outside of the U.S. The car would receive sleek, elegant, upscale styling inside and out. Nothing less than a V6 engine/6 speed auto transmission combo would be offered. All wheel drive would be offered for those who live in colder climates. I think this car would give Chrysler a more upscale product to differentiate it from Dodge and move the brand upmarket.

I think the pacifica and Magnum could’ve done better, with more marketing support.

MurcieMe: THE aSpen is a loser, and was a loser before the company picked that name.

1115: agree with most of what you said, but I say let the Avenger and Sebring go. Chrysler may need commuter coffins, but these are putrid, and I think they hurt more than help. Why is the Firepower not in production?

purdue: i considered the Pacifica, but it didn’t work for me. I almost bought an Enclave in Vegas last night.

PT Cruiser should have been larger, more powerful, more expensive and less ubiquitous. now, it might as well be a Neon.

TomF: “Now kill the Sebring, Commander, Aspen, Nitro, Compass, and PT Cruiser. Enough with these pathetic

also-ran cars that are designed to be everybody’s fourth choice.”
yeah, kill those two small “jeeps,” and pretend they never existed. The Only way I’d buy a sebring is if I needed a commuter coffin and my only two choices were a camry and accord. And after i DRIVE THE NEw accord, that might change.

1115: the “Rx300″ is just a highlander/camry wagon. Depending on how you define “crossover,” I’d say the first was the AMC Eagle or my stepfather’s old Subaru wagon.

The Magnum has plenty of potential, why kill it for an extremely crowded, and growing market?

The Pacifica could be redesigned, and if done well then it could be succsessful in the fashion it was when it was first released. It would have to be extremely good though, looking at how American automanufacturers (note, not Japanese this time, aside from Mazda who is owned by Ford.) have raised the bar very high for crossover vehicles.

The Crossfire just didn’t satisfy people, with it’s V-6 and quirky, somewhat boring design. It’s not that it’s a bad car. No curves, no sex appeal, reminds me of early 90’s Chrysler convertibles.

So I consider the first people mover crossover to be American.

And there had been many minivans before Chrysler. It’s simply that Chrysler combined innovative features when the time was ripe.

2. Pacifica- This is the car that started the crossover trend. The first. And here’s a secret its not a bad crossover, its wasnt when it was introduced and it still can hold its own. I was very impressed by the interior fit and finish. The design still looks good to me. Chrysler screwed up the launch of this SUV by pricing and having a weak engine. It was too little too late when they fixed both issues, but the Pacifica is still a great crossover. Why not redesign it on the next gen LX platform and do the launch right. If they play their cards right this could be a Buick Enclave competitor, and if the fit and finish is up to par ,maybe they could charge a premium.

As far as Brendino’s comment about adding variants to cut costs, what Chrysler SHOULD be doing instead of dumping the Magnum altogether is to add the 300C Touring it sells in other markets, which is a Magnum from the windshield back. I just saw a nice custom example at SEMA this week, and I’m sure with the popular Chrysler 300 face it would sell enough to justify keeping the Magnum around.

Don’t car companies usually ADD variants on platforms to cut costs? The Magnum was helping to pay for the LX platform, the PT cabrio for the PT platform, and so on. That’s why they were talking about putting the Veyron’s engine in a Bentley, right? So you’d spread the R&D and use the parts more?

The Pacifica should have been that car but wasn’t.

Maybe the Ford Flex will answer the call but if it turns out anything like the Edge it’ll be too heavy, slow and expensive.

Chrysler is missing a huge market that is pretty much owned right now by Volvo and Subaru.

all others – good riddance.

Hmmm…. the market is smaller now?

This board is top-heavy with enthusiasts who like the Magnum. Obviously the broader market didn’t.

Chrysler needs a wagon/crossover with the Magnum’s and Pacifica’s dimensions, but neither of those models was it.

If the company can kill the Pacifica even though crossovers are red-hot right now, it can sure kill the Sebring even though mid-sized sedans are important right now.

Jack Welch at GE used to assess product segments by asking: can we be number one or number two in that segment? If not, why are we in it — who wants to be number three or four?

Chrysler ought to apply that thinking to each vehicle segment it’s in. It’s got an awful lot of vehicles that are number three or worse competitively. Killing these four models is a good start. Now kill the Sebring, Commander, Aspen, Nitro, Compass, and PT Cruiser. Enough with these pathetic also-ran cars that are designed to be everybody’s fourth choice.

Pacifia has the latest version of the 20 year old 1988 electronic transmission Chrysler keeps modifying but keeps failing on their owners.

Magnum wagon is way cool, but I can’t trust Chrysler quality again after my (and others) Dodgle Intrepid experience to buy one, new OR used.

Pacifica is great and useful too if you have been deemed worthy of having a fine woman choose YOU to procreate with. It’s a breeder thing…

Dodge needs
A small car to replace the Caliber
The Avenger just give the interior better plastics and leather
the Charger
The Challenger
The Journey
The Durango
The trucks Hicks love em
A large SUV based on the Ram

Jeep needs
The Cherokee – long wheelbase also for a third row or Larger vehicle over it
the Liberty I hate it but Its a good seller for them
The compass gets younger buyers into the brand I think they should keep it and rework it to look like the concept
A truck version of the GC
The Wrangler