RLSH700

I'm not sure if things are really going to change though. It sounds good but they seem to believe in following the mistakes of Daimler's management. Not building their own compact car except with the help of a bunch of low quality, non-selling models brands is precisely what got Chrysler in this fix. The Stratus and Sebring might not have been super success stories, but they didn't have the problem with selling that the current crop is having. They are using the next gen Mitsubishi Lancer platform to save some cash and the customers are not interested. This shouldn't be a surprise. Look at the history of Chrysler doing joint ventures and having success, with the exception of the Vision, that was what the Eagle was and it is long gone. Many models during the 80s to early 90s were re-badged and joint ventures and they were not selling that well. The saving money approach seems to lead to failure more often than not. The only success story I can think of has been with the LX cars and those cars received a ton of effort.

The idea that they will not get into the compact car market unless with a partner is ludicrous. That is the market where there is a lot of demand for cars right now. The only ones that will agree to such an idea are the ones that are not that successful. Think about which models are successful right now: the Corolla, the Civic, the 3, and the Lancer. Why would Toyota or Honda want to give their competition a chance to regain ground on them and possibly lose a few sales when they are already successful, besides the fact that GM tried selling the Corolla under the Prizm nameplate under Geo and Chevrolet and both were hardly success stories. Mazda is already with Ford as Ford keeps proving that it takes a whole lot more than doing business with the right companies to be successful (namely having someone who isn't blind who is designing the cars and someone who knows how to market products). With Chrysler already sharing the basic platform and engine design, how much more do they need, besides the fact that they did offer Mitsubishi's compact car program and it was not a success story for Chrysler. The talk about going together with Nissan on the Sentra would be a mistake as they would be joining them on a product that isn't that successful to begin with that would lead to selling their own version of a product that isn't that successful either.

They should make their OWN economy car as they did last time that WAS a success story until it grew out of date due to lack of effort to keep it competitive (outdated engine technology, inefficient transmission, outdated interior design, outdated styling, bad reputation earned from not making sure the engine was reliable, etc.). They should aim to match or beat the 38-40 mpg range (under the old standards) to keep up with Toyota and Honda, as well as offer a diesel to stand out while they can, on top of this they should make an SRT-4 the way an SRT-4 should be made with AWD to aim at the Lancer and WXR STi.

To understand what it takes for Chrysler to succeed they need to look at their successful models for effort inspiration.
LX car: they made an offering that was not only competitive in their price range but desirable enough to draw people away from models costing up to double the asking price. They did this by offering a very powerful, yet half way decent fuel efficiency and very affordable price for what it is. The exterior was pleasing to the different audiences and the interior although not as fun as the LH cars was still decent.
Minivans: Chrysler has stayed on top of this segment by knowing their audiences and playing the best game of catch up and taking it a step further. When the competition offered electric sliding doors on both sides they offered it and a power rear hatch. When the competition offered fold-flat seating in the rear, they offered two rows that would actually fold into the floor. They always are very de