Bipolar Mopar: A Struggle Called Chrysler Part II 

you could make a episode like this based on mitsubishi

Funny thing too, both the 300 and the minivan were built in Canada, so after the 200 died chrysler was only American in name lol

Stellantis just announced layoffs, 400 positions. Perfect timing for the video!

Chrysler should follow their history when times are tough and not just for them but everyone in general. The K car, the Neon. Make a small affordable car when almost no one else is. A civic goes for over $30k in Canada! Make a $20k car and people will come.

To me, the fuselage era was the best. I drove taxis in the 70s. We had coronets at yellow cab, furies at city cab, and my boss when the companies merged gave me a big 69 chrysler newport 4 door sedan to drive. Kaiser/Willys survived in Jeep, where studebaker and packard were dead by 62, and nash/hudson/amc/eagle was gone by the early 90s. And now it seems jeep may outlast chrysler.

US problems with each Main Stellantis brand: 1. Dodge- MSRPs are to high now for the average dodge customer and the jump to EVs completely destroys Dodge’s V8 legacy alienating their customers and subpar new vehicles like the Hornet that don’t fit the current identity of the brand that they have not successfully changed yet. 2- Jeep- MSRPs are too high now for the average Jeep customer, for some reason someone at stellantis thought turning Jeep into a luxury brand was a good idea, also bad/ no entry priced models. 3-Ram- MSRPs are to high now for the average Ram buyer, the prices got so high chevy and ford seem cheaper depending on trim. Also lack of updates/refreshes with the increases in MSRPs. 3-Chrysler- No models besides mini van ALL BRANDS NEED TO IMPROVE QUALITY AND RELIABILITY TO JUSTIFY INCREASES IN MSRPS OR LOWER PRICES That is what I could see are some problems

Cheers Ed. Amazing how some young Dutch bloke has so nailed this niche.

I honestly think a new PT Cruiser would save Chrysler. Hey, that would be an interesting idea for the "What if..." series.

I worked for one of Chrysler's parts suppliers until recently and the unending frustrations with their inability to schedule supply deliveries, coordinate their own supply chain, and make any decision in a timely manner made it obvious the company was in terminal decline. It was clear that nobody in the driver's seat (pun intended) at Chrysler was looking at anything but the projected sales figures for the next quarter and not making needed changes to parts procurement that would have actually saved them money and maybe earned them more attention from FIAT. We did get a chuckle over the merger into Stellantis, since many of us thought it sounded like a toothpaste brand.

Chrysler had such a large innovative and diverse product portfolio back in the 90s. Starting with the LH cars, Neon, Cloud Cars, the Ram pickup, third gen minivans, second gen Dakota and Durango plus the new Jeep Grand Cherokee, second gen Wrangler and the successful Cherokee etc. Now they barely have a product portfolio to speak of.

Chrysler has/is being slowly killed first by Mercedes, then Fiat and now Stellantis. RIP Chrysler.

Damler Killed Chrysler,, then left it for dead, Walter P is spinning in his Grave

It's sad, Chrysler is supposed to be like Buick or Mercury (RIP) Now they're on life support, it probably has 2 years left.

Stellantis is truly a multinational corporation. It’s French/Italian/American, with German and British brands as well. And the whole corporation is headquartered in the Netherlands (surprising Ed didn’t mention that part).

Ed thanks for last week's thumbnail My dreams are still haunted by a Lee-IacocCar

Not to mention the DOOMING over at the Dodge fanboy table now that the Challenger is dead and Charger went EV. I don't personally hate the new Charger, the retro style is spot on but they really should have given the option between the new EV drivetrain and a good ol' Hemi

Chrysler needs to bring a luxury minivan to china

My winter beater is a 2004 PT Cruiser I have owned for over 15 years, probably spent about $1k over the years on parts and maintenance. Still peppy and has always been great on icy/snowy roads. I also use it like a station wagon during the summer hauling mowers & such when needed.

Well...At least they brought back the square steering wheel in the new Airflow...Thanks, Ed, for this most-informative and entertaining overview of Chrysler!

Chrysler presented some interesting concepts during the 00s namely the Imperial, ME12 but Daimler doesn't allow Chrysler to do so as they thought those cars will overshadowed their S-Class and SLR McLaren. There are many missed opportunities for Chrysler.

Looking at those short clips from the "Imported from Detroit" ad was so heartbreaking.

Get me on Chrysler's board of product development I'll turn them around!

The Daimler Studebaker connection was no less disastrous. Not only did Mercedes suck up all of Studebaker Packard's prime dealerships between 1957 and 1964,, but when SPC proposed to revive the grand lux Packard in 1959, Mercedes objected fearing the new badge engineered Facel-Vega body, which was stunningly beautiful would be too strong of competition to it's antiquated 300 series. Well, we see which car companies survived. Studebaker had 114 years under it's belt before it's last car rolled off the line, talk about a waste!

Sergio Marchionne worked very hard to put Fiat and Chrysler, et al on a solid financial footing; he was a money guy who knew what needed to be done for the long-term success of the brand(s). Unfortunately, his untimely passing changed everything. His vision is sorely missed.

With how few Sedans there are just make a line of hybrid Chrysler sedan and wagons using classic names like cordoba and new Yorker

General Motors did the same thing to Oldsmobile. Chryslers cloud era cars were so variable back when you had color choices transmission choices the world power elite are destroying cars as we have known them. It’s a sad time in the American auto industry, sadder by far than it was in 1980.

love the analogy to BL makes chrysler look like worseley

I absolutely loved my Wife’s Dodge Magnum (3.5L V6 RWD). It over-delivered on reliability, longevity and power delivery (250hp/250lb.ft of torque going to the rear wheels). Not all 300/Magnum customer’s experiences were as good as mine, so I might not highly recommend. But in my case… I guess that I(we) got lucky. Thanks for the video.

And the Gen 1 SLK was based on a shortened W202 ( C class from 1992 to 2001 )

Lee Iacocca isn't walking through the doors at Chrysler anytime soon.

Chrysler was always ahead in styling and innovation but their plastics left a lot to be desired. I had a 1986 Dodge Caravan and, literally, every single piece of trim either broke, cracked or fell off.

Domestic Abuse was an appropriate title for that chapter. From accounts I've read, the Germans just bullied the Chrysler guys. Can't smoke in American offices? It's fine, because it's us, the Germans! What? Of course we can have wine with lunch, we do it everyday in Germany! The Intrepid, Concorde and whatever else they built on that platform were known as the LHS models. Automotive pundits, and some Chrysler employees, said it stood for "Last Hope Sedan."

"The extra Kosher salt, rubbed into that massive gaping wound" 😂😂🤣🤣

I knew a little about the Chrysler saga over the years. I didn't know Chrysler is now seriously on the ropes. Interesting video!

The final nail... as it were, is this little thing called "Stellantis."

On the topic of the 300 and Charger the only Diamler engine was the CRD diesel and it was only available in Europe. In the US you had the 2.7, 3.5, 5.7 and later the 6.1 which were all Chrysler designed. Also I appreciate you not saying the LX chassis was just an old E-Class cause it wasn't. Its suspension was based on the E-Class and S-Class but the actual Chassis was in development before the merger papers were even drafted.

Oh goodie ! I've been waiting for this one.. So.. Unfortunate outcome for a once proud American brand.. I did think AIRFLOW concept had some promise, I wasn't as underwhelmed as you were, but even with that one, it's not nearly enough.

What’s left of Chrysler is a shame. I always have had a soft spot for Mopars in my heart. I even briefly worked for them in the late 1970s, just before Iacocca arrived. By then all the cars were identical with interchangeable parts - different grill, different brand. Mix ‘em up and you have a car for the 3rd brand. Example - take a Dodge St Regis, slap on a slightly altered Chrysler Newport fascia, and voila!! You have a Plymouth Caravelle!! Make a few minor changes to it and get an NYPD Police Package Fury

Thank you Ed. You did a great job with the content. The footage was great a long with your information. It is a sad state right now. It seems a lot of the American brands lost their way. It is not just Chrysler. Lincoln is not in good shape right now. That could be a video for you. There are so many brands you could do videos about. Thank you again.

Most recently, the Dodge division introduced a subcompact called the Hornet, reviving the old AMC model name. It's available with either a gas or electric motor. Unfortunately, they're making the same mistake they did with the Dodge Dart - being just a rebadge of an existing Alfa Romeo model, and importing it from Italy. North Americans were not impressed and stayed away in droves - what makes Stellantis think the same approach will work this time? (Though I often joke that the Dart failed because consumers were upset that there was no Swinger model).

Ed, this is SO good! Some of the best car content on RU-vid. You produce a kind of art. Exceptional work! Cheers! 🍸🍸🍸

Chrysler is in the same boat as Buick. The mid-level luxury segment is niche, especially when people can buy a Chevy/Dodge/Jeep and opt for luxury trim levels. The Chrysler Aspen failed as their entry to the lucrative luxury SUV market, but they had plenty of opportunity to try again and now Jeep has beaten them to the punch with the Wagoneer. Their best option now is to move downmarket to what Plymouth used to be and offer affordable cars, contrary to what little brand image they have left.

This was an excellent two parter. Your distinctive voice adds much to your reportage. Keep the first-class videos coming.

DAMN!!!!! I know it's gonna be a great day when I get a notification that there's a new E.A.R. video!!!!!

My sister had an Eagle. She drove it for almost 20 years until an accident destroyed it. It was working just fine and she planned on keeping it for a few more years. I do not know if she got one of the good ones or they were that good.

Always enjoy Ed’s videos.

Excellent !

Thanks for another great video Ed! :^)

Sofar i know and had read the CEO of Stellantis gave each brand in the group 10 years to prove themselves. The brands that make a profit will stay and those wo don't will be axed. Chrysler, Dodge, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Maserati are in the Dangerzone to be axed. Jeep and Ram are the US brands that are build in numbers and also sold global those will stay around. In my eyes Chrysler is nr 1 on the extinction list followed shortly by Lancia on nr2.

That’s how I felt about AMC. Jeep was still a high quality vehicle when owned by AMC, but became plagued with Chrysler Corp’s low quality issues when they acquired them. IMO today’s Jeep is nowhere near the Jeeps of old, with quality as bad as the Bronco Sport.

Awesome episode Ed!

love you channel dude!!!

Still watching the pre-roll ads. Since this was posted Stellantis North America has confirmed to WJBK-TV and Detroit Free Press "a number" of the engineering staff was "released" this afternoon. WJBK rolled new interview footage with at least four of the affected on their 5 PM (Eastern) news report. Their story implited, without numbers, a large percentage are now gone.

I've seen the future for Chrysler, and I passed it up today running errands. It was a graasy field full of tombstones. Just what the late (but not great) Sergio Marchionne wanted when he force-fed Americans to Fiat and Alfa-Romeo. If they want to keep Chrysler, they'll need a bit of corporate soup (The next Peugeot 5008, the hybrid and an all-electric 508 sedan, a stretched out, 7 passenger version of the Jeep Compass, and something from Opel; perhaps an off-road ready wagon version of the insignia formerly known as the Buick Regal Tour X here) My faith in Stellantis? R.I.P. Chrysler, Lancia (lan-sha), and eventually Opel. Awesome job, Ed! Keep them great videos coming! 🐰

Ah u good man. Delivery is spot on

Most likely, the only reason(s) the 300 survived as long as it did are that A) it shared a platform with the profitable Dodge Charger (the Challenger is also on this same platform, with somewhat lower avg. sales than the Charger.) The 300 typically sold less than 1/3 of the Charger yearly numbers. Beyond that, much of the 300 production seems to be purchased by rental companies from what I can tell....usually a sign that the model is not selling well in the new car market.

I owned two different Dodge Caravans over the years. I had thre kids at the time. The Grand Caravan that I had was the best vehicle that I ever owned for what it was designed for. I could stuff all three kids, their friends, all their accoutrements and still have plenty of room inside. Descent mileage, average handling, low maintenance and fairly reliable.

Another awesome video. Always thought Chrysler should have stayed upmarket with Plymouth the low prices and Dodge as the performance name. But then I thought GM should have stayed Chevy, Pontiac and Caddy. Silly me.

It's shocking to me how a company that can seemingly print money on the sales of a handful of aging models until they're milked for all they're worth can struggle to find the budget to build new models. It's not like they don't want to - presumably a large number of those Jeep concept vehicles they build every year are both feasible for production and in high demand - they just drag their feet with everything they do, until whatever they do manage to do is too little too late. With the new Dodge Charger coming out, I'm honestly surprised there's no talk of a Chrysler version, despite them confirming there will be Alfa Romeo and even Jeep branded vehicles based on the platform. They just need SOMETHING, ANYTHING to sell.

Here before 500 views. Epic vid

Excellent job Ed, I'm a Mopar guy and bipolar!

The first 300c pic is my current vehicle -- same color, same year, same wheels (177K and still rollin' like a champ).

I need to chime in here and put my 2 cents. First of all this is a great two part documentary and it really exploits Chrysler's true colors in the sense of every form of failure. Having to work in the automotive industry especially dealing with Mopar parts have been a real hassle even up to now. Also being an automotive technician of plus 22 years I can certainly say of the big 3, Mopar was by far the worst to deal with when it came vehicle repairs, part failures & returns, and recall control issues. I once had to take a field trip to a Dodge dealership to get an insight of how they operate back in the 90s. This was at a time where I going to college for automotive technology. In the showroom just about every student was ooing and awwwing over the Plymouth Prowler but me. I saw how much cladded plastic was on this car and didn't think nothing of it of being anything special. It was all aesthetics and short on performance. This was also at a time when I was driving a Dodge "Die-Nasty" something that was purchased used by my grandfather for me to drive them around town while I was there for college. At a first glance I didn't think much of the car other then being a confortable ride. But then the real problems showed it ugly head. I soon found out this vehicle had that awful leaking and noisy Mitsubishi 3.0L engine. The vehicle had the tendency to vapor lock once in awhile since we were living in the Texas heat. Idle control issues developed while the transmission would literally stall the vehicle and shut it down. Which eventually the transmission gave out and that ended my time owning a Chrysler product! All this gave me the impression on how Mopar vehicles are in general and I wasn't far from the truth! Learning about the mergers, the poor quality control builds on top many I had to fix over the years literally gave me a bad taste of this manufacture. What made it worse for me was that at the first independent repair shop I worked at when I turned 20, just about every other vehicle I worked on had to be a Mopar with some sort of problem. Tons of minivans (leaking water pumps, heater cores, etc), Intrepids with erratic idle surges or electrical issues, Jeeps....oh gawd what didn't they have that needed to be fix!!!? The only reliable dodge vehicle that I worked on was this customer who owned a 80s Dodge Diplomat. Only basic maintenance was it required on this thing. The 90s into 2000 Chrysler products were just awful! I kept telling myself if I wanted to just work on Mopar then I should of been working at a Dodge Dealership because 70% of the vehicles that came into our shop was a Mopar product! To this day if anyone of my customers ask me about what I think about Mopar (because they are thinking of buying one) I tell them DON'T! Unless you got deep pockets and want to keep spending $$$ trying to keep a sinking boat, afloat...just don't do it. Mopar should of went down when the recession happened and unfortunately it didn't and to this day it's still being runned into the ground. BTW: Stellantis just recently announced that they are letting go about 400 white collar jobs. "Down-sizing" is the name of the game. But in reality they are sending those type of jobs to other places like India, Brazil, & Mexico for profits over the US People. Nothing has changed over the years and nothing will with this mind set. If the quality of their product isn't already bad as it is, it's only going to get worse.

I cannot believe that Chrysler is now gone! Once great brand .

Great video! I love your viewpoints! I own a Pacifica Hybrid Pinnacle for my local transport buisness . It's a shame. The emblem is wings.... they could do so much with that theme and electric. You gotta Drive the Pacifica hybrid . It feels like your flying . 80 mph on all electric is ghost quiet and smooth . It's like you're flying ! That van is a perfect metaphor for those wings.. That's what chrysler always was to me. America's Audi . ... Chrysler should be the first American brand to go all electric. It makes sense ...

I had a 2005 Chrysler 300. Never a problem!

Well the same forces that killed other storied names are still afoot... not the end of Mopar tho.....great episode Ed!

The salt in the wound was extra kosher? I like that detail

I love your videos. I like driving a 300S big dumb, coarse but likable in an odd way

Stellantis is really doing it's job reviving the "dead" brands. It was not only the chrysler, but also Lancia, which for many years had only the ypsilon in the lineup, or the DS, which it's more and more clearly to see that it's not only rebranded citroen. Though i dont personally like that much their approach to the electric future, i have to admit that in every lineup of each brand there are some excellent cars

POOR CHRYSLER!!!

For as long as I've been alive i don't think Chrysler has ever been considered a legitimate luxury car company. Stelantis needs to change that.

I bet that other car companies calling Chrysler - "The Jeep (and Ram) Holder".

Ed, I have loved your videos for years. Just one correction, which I noticed in the first part of this series as well - only the Cirrus, Breeze and Stratus were known as the "cloud cars". The Intrepid and its siblings were known as the LH cars or cab forward cars. My second car was a 1997 Dodge Intrepid I acquired in 2000 - we thought it was quite advanced for the money, for the time.

Ed, alway enlightening to hear your Dutch/European insight on automobiles especially our American models. I've only owned one MoPar product and that was a new 1994 Chrysler LHS/New Yorker sedan with its stunning cab forward look and faux classic Jaguar Mk II rear roofline. It's chameleon Charcoal Gold metallic paint and its taupe leather interior was just stunning. Alas, I watched subsequent models devolve into mediocrity and then into that gangsta rap design Chrysler 300. Chr

I have drove Chrysler cars and trucks since the early 80's. My last one I bought was a 2011 Dodge Avenger. They are not what they used to be for sure! I'll keep my old Dodge Ram running as long as I can.

The former Chrysler Corporation also includes Jeep, Dodge and Ram, as well as the Chrysler brand. So they have more than one model left.

Actually 32 years ago the Chrysler 300 sedans were prototypes built on an elongated rear-wheel drive LH platform. One of them even made its rounds at the 92 American Auto Show

Loved my Crossfires. Had two Roadsters and drove one for 3, the other for 11 years. Great and inexpensive fun cars with perfect reliability. Without Covid I would still drive my beloved Crossi!

Neons were a huge success and were everywhere around the turn of the millenium.

I have owned 2 Chrysler vehicles over the past 20 years and their biggest problem is that, while GM and FOrd did, Chrysler could never get their quality control in check enough to offer competition with Japanese and South Korean brands.

Henry Ford, Lee Iacocca, Robert Macnamara Walter P Chrysler are my personal heroes!

lee iacocca keep up the good work.

Yes!!! Part II is out!

For some reason, dying car brands think that a 60k electric suv will revive the brand. Because it works of others, and RISKING something would be an OUTRAGEOUS idea because it could make 1% less money. Cheap cars are the way to go. Not buying a prius for 50k.

The new Airflow looks great, tho it has an eerie resemblance to the Porsche Cayenne

Another topic, when this video ended the clip "A Struggle Called Cadillac" was suggested. Of course I've already seen it, but it made think of a clip I saw at another channel a few days ago, about a wonky looking, four seated, huuuge luxury EV that they seemed to feel would be agreat success. I don't remember what is was called.... Celestial? Celestienne? If you have seen it I'd love to hear your thoughts about it. I'm a GM guy and love Cadillac, but I kinda fear that they don't where they are going. Thanks for uploading! Greetings from Sweden

I honestly feel like Chrysler has no reason to exist anymore, at least not attached to Dodge. Its kind of like Pontiac in the way they were supposed to be the slightly more exciting Chevrolets, but just ended up being a Chevy by a different name. The Chrysler is considered by no one ti be considered even mid level luxury, let alone luxury.

I would do things for Chrysler. 1. Luxury SUV that's NOT a crossover and bubbly- that's a tired old look now. Boxy is sorta coming back. Yes they have Jeeps, but not everyone likes Jeep styling, so a Chrysler styling might be the key here. 2. Bring back the Eagle as a Chysler, give it a good value entry price at less that $25K new, can be head with loads more features and style too if you wish. I know so many people who get crossovers and SUVs simply for the AWD, but wish they could get it in a Civic or a Corolla.

They had the first plug in hybrid mini van on the market and they squandered it

cutting up the videos into parts is an old youtube strategy from 10 years ago Ed. now watch time is the thing. the longer you can get somebody to stick around the more likely they will finish the video. usually the parts are hard to find and i don't even both. luckily part 2 was at the top of my feed. youtube doesn't offer your videos to me very often. i like your take on cars. a lot of guys make their videos to sell something and the video is crap. i'm here to be entertained not buy into a crypto scam.

They should just bring back all the old models updated and see what happens I would definitely be picking myself up a new Intrepid

Had Bob lutz had stayed on the team would have stayed on. I can imagine the future for Chrysler - Chrysler would have flourished. Bob Eaton with zero emotional attachment to Chrysler. . He damn well knew what was going on, saw a PHAT check and put himself 1st. No other way to look at it. Period.

I never owned a Chrysler product with the exception of a mid-90s Grand Cherokee which was passable with the exception of poor brakes. In 2001 we switched to an M-B ML430 which was more luxurious and had actual brakes. FFWD to 2024, in January we rented a Chrysler Minivan from Enterprise to ski in western Canada with our college age kids. So four big duffels and three sets of ski-gear. When I opened the tailgate I realized that my worrying on the flight westward about stowing our luggage in the rental car was complete nonsense, a giant cave that we didn't even fill half :). Can't speak to reliability and didn't pay too much attention to build quality but we loved the functionality! It had all the mod-cons our own (mostly European) cars have. It was super comfy for our three hour drive from airport to slopes and it performed pretty good on snowy roads. So yeah, I'm convinced by that product but only needed the rental. Chrysler fell victim to the misguided decisions by US automakers that they only needed to design and produce EVs....I think Hertz has proven that is not a viable strategy at this time. I also do not understand all the badge engineering of US models for sale in Europe, Europeans find most of these cars too big, heavy and thirsty, not to mention the road taxes and insurance premiums they attract. Equally selling FIATs in the US was always going to be a limited niche. Too bad, I like that their overall brand portfolio was broad and had a following.

Nicely done. It is sad to watch Dodge and Chrysler be squandered away into oblivion.

When a car is neither ugly nor inspiring, the word I like to use is, inoffensive. Alot of Corollas are inoffensive, and hondas

MeisterAMG, the channel which primarily made videos about Mercedes-AMGs, had a great analysis video of the crash and burned Daimler-Chrysler merger that Daimler had to get out in 2007, because it affected Mercedes image so much that many considered it Mercedes' own malaise era

Holy jesus I've never been this early

we love you

The 200 and 300 are great options, they just needed more spice. Maybe bring an Imperial and Valiant to the lineup. And bring the classic united states car back: RWD, Automatic (with an optional manual) and a huge trunk.