ORIGINAL: Justinec101
I'm not sure how far they can go with the boxy design of the charger and 300c if it's staying on the same platform. I would say they need to find a way to lose weight and shrink down the 300 and charger to get it closer to competing with the midsized cars from toyota and honda. The sebring and avenger have absolutely no shot without a ton of money injected in to them which chrysler doesn't have.
The Charger and 300 are not supposed to compete against the Camry and Accord, they are supposed to compete against the Avalon and Maxima (and in all truth the 300 should compete against offerings from Lexus, Infiniti, and Cadillac). I'm not sure if this is a practical solution or not in the cost category, but I would think it would be far easier to revive the JR platform and update that than to fix all the problems with the
JS cars. The
JS cars feel like a compact that are trying to be a mid-sized car while being as heavy as a large car. The JR formula was far more competitive and easier to fix. The trunk size was decent, the weight was reasonable, the safety was reasonable, and the styling was non-controversial. If they were to carry over the new I4 combined with the 6-speed automatic, offer a GDI version for the SXT instead of the 2.7L as it would be about as powerful and more fuel efficient, have the full powered EGK version of the 3.5L, get the brakes from one of the better models, look to the LH cars for interior inspiration (as they had much better ideas in those cars than Chrysler had in the cloud cars or these current ones), look towards more aerodynamic cars like the Stealth, 1st gen Viper, or original avenger for styling cues to distinguish it from the Charger for a different audience for the Dodge and look towards the Vision/300M for the Sebring for inspiration.
The thing you have to remember is that the larger cars generally sell better anyhow for the Big Three (or at least in the case of Chrysler and GM). It would be a bad idea to abandon a formula that works and lose more customers. The LX cars need to go on a diet without a doubt; however, the way to do it isn't by making the car smaller.
Precisely, honestly I think the 1999 Charger concept is more aggressive than the 06-current Charger. I've read that this might have actually been on the same platform as the current Charger. Also it is important to remember that not all K cars were boxes on wheels. The later Daytonas looked quite similar to their replacement the original Avengers. A platform is more flexible than you might think. I love the looks of the 300M, but I would prefer to see that on a car like the Sebring and give the 300 series a more traditional luxury car look. I just don't like the idea of the 300 having a base model level that prevents it from being considered a luxury car.