What could this mean for the Dodge Charger and Challenger?
The days for the current Chrysler 300 are numbered.
Introduced in 2005, the second-generation 300 bowed in 2011, offering dimensions only slightly longer and wider than the first-generation model. Now in its sixth model year, the current Chrysler 300 is showing its age and plans for its replacement are underway.
What may follow could stun enthusiasts, especially if parent Fiat Chrysler elects to place the large sedan on the same front-wheel drive platform underpinning the all-new Chrysler Pacifica minivan. If FCA utilizes Pacifica architecture to support the third-generation 300, it’ll offer optional all-wheel drive, just as it does today.
News of the 300’s possible successor
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One of the models thought possible was a Dodge SUV variant, either to replace the current Durango or to supplement it.
Front-Wheel Drive Architecture
Moving to front-wheel drive architecture aligns with the approach Chrysler’s competitors have long taken, including the Ford Taurus, Chevrolet’s Impala, and the Toyota Avalon. Of the three, only the Taurus offers available all-wheel drive — the possible Chrysler approach is also one Audi takes, but the latter’s market is the luxury segment.
Mention “Chrysler 300” and two other models comes to mind: Dodge Charger and Dodge Challenger. The current Dodge sedan and coupe share nearly everything, including the platform and all major components with the Chrysler. The two models Hellcat lines are unique to Dodge and have placed a halo over each.
Marchionne’s pronouncements typically provide reporters with enough fodder to keep FCA in the news, while omitting some information about related products, brands, and production
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The next-generation Jeep Wrangler may get a twin-turbocharged, four-cylinder engine making 300 horsepower, supplementing the standard 3.6-liter, V-6. Further, production of the all-new Ram 1500 pickup truck will begin by Jan. 2018.
Production of the Dodge Dart will cease by year’s end as the Belvidere, Illinois plant where it is produced is converted to build the Jeep Grand Cherokee, now built in Toledo, Ohio. Ohio production will focus primarily on the next Wrangler as well as a Jeep-based pickup truck. Also, just as the company’s Sterling Heights, Mich., plant loses the Chrysler 200 by early next year, it will be retooled to supplement future Ram 1500 capacity.
As for the Dart and 200, Marchionne is still holding out hope that a partnership with another manufacturer to build replacement models will happen. Those models would be based entirely on a competitors technology, not FCA. For example, Volkswagen Jetta and Passat models might be tapped and rebadged as the Dart and 200 respectively, although there has been no mention VW has even considered such a