During the 1950s and 1960s, nobody did luxury cars better than Detroit. Cadillac , Lincoln and even the now-extinct Imperial brands were the tops in the segment, with little competition from foreign nameplates. However, those brands have lost their way over the past few decades – or gone under, as in Imperial’s case – with foreign luxury marques becoming stronger. But despite that slide, is there still an American nameplate that can take on the likes on BMW and Mercedes-Benz ?
If we had to bet on a domestic brand to take on BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the coming years, we’d put our money on Cadillac. But, according to Jim Press, we’d be wrong. Press – the current co-president of Chrysler – says that Chrysler is best suited to take on the world’s best luxury brands.
“We’re going to be a smaller, more focused company,” Press told Automotive News. “We could be the Mercedes or BMW of America.” Press even claimed that the all-new 2009 Dodge Ram is the exact truck Mercedes would have built, had the German automaker been in the pickup truck business.
While it’s laughable to put up a Chrysler Sebring against a BMW 3-Series or Mercedes C-Class, Press is adamant that Chrysler’s future products will be some of the best in the world. Whereas press feels that “GM and Ford are making basic cars and ‘gingerbreading’ them up to premium”, Chrysler is focusing on making a premium product from the onset.
However, Chrysler clearly has a hard row to hoe if it wants to get up to BMW and Mercedes standards. Not only does the Michigan automaker have to side step bankruptcy, but it also has to completely abandon its bargain basement interiors and unrefined powertrains. That being said, if Chrysler emerges from this downturn as a much smaller automaker, it could become nimble enough to make the kind of changes Press is laying out.
