Chrysler: A Roller-Coaster Tale of Corporate Hits and Misses

The 1980's: Chrysler's heyday. Lee Iacocca said, "If you can find a better car, buy it." Nowadays that's one hell of a dangerous ad campaign to try. Counting the number of manufacturers presently building cars better than Chrysler involves counting toes... not a good sign. Chrysler; My God, what happened? For the past thirty years the smallest of the Big Three has endured a roller-coaster ride of successes and failures. Looking at the Cerberus-owned Chrysler of today and the Chrysler of 1979, not much has changed.

1979 saw Chrysler begging the government for money, and now we see that history does indeed appear to be cyclical. Over three decades the company has not done much more than get sucked toward bankruptcy, come back up for a brief moment, and then immediately get sucked under again like that poor girl in the opening scene of Jaws.

It is hard to pinpoint the exact "uh-oh" moment for Chrysler; there are a few. After what appeared to be the end of troubled times with the introduction of the LH-Series cars (nicknamed the Last Hope), Daimler-Benz swooped in to buy Chrysler (for a moment forget that "merger of equals" mumbo-jumbo). This entire period, however, was a bit of a mess for both parties. While Chrysler offered relatively attractive models at the time, poor fuel economy and poorer quality of materials led to lackluster sales.

Then Mercedes tried rummaging through its own closet, first for parts and then entire platforms. Even this could not rejuvenate Chrysler in consumers' eyes, leading to Chrysler's unceremonious sale into the hands of its current owners, Cerberus Capital Management. Under Cerberus one could argue that Chrysler is at rock bottom, still hemorrhaging money and now with no magic closet to rummage through other than its own. Where did everything go wrong?

Ages ago Chrysler was a brand known for its radical designs. The boys from Chrysler would appear on the show circuit brandishing their weapons of choice: insane concepts never meant to appear on public roads. Then, when dared to build these absurdities, they actually did! The executives (apparently fans of Field of Dreams) realized that if they built them, buyers would come. That was fifteen years ago, and I can still remember going down to the Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep dealership as a child to sit in a Viper or Prowler. These were the cars that brought people into showrooms.

Today, the thought of walking into a Chrysler dealership is just depressing. The excitement options have dwindled, along with the money to build them. Chrysler LLC'S best-selling product is a Dodge Ram, and the brand's best–selling vehicle a minivan. Thrilling. This is a company not only with boring models, but a company that has seemed to lose its originality as well.

Once upon a time the question on everyone's mind was, "What craziness is Chrysler bringing to the show this year?" Now, all that goes through peoples' minds at a Chrysler booth is a collective groan of disappointment. One such groan came last year, when Chrysler rolled out some not-so-revolutionary electric vehicles based on – gasp - a Town & Country minivan, a Jeep Wrangler, and a Europa borrowed from Lotus. Hardly the cream of the automotive crop.

If it makes it through the next year, Cerberus will need to get some new ideas. As in, yesterday. The lesson to learn from the bungled and ill-received Sebring/Avenger failure is this: when trying to make a vehicle appealing to consumers, design by committee is not an option. No offense to the top-tier management-types versed in finance and economics, but you did not go to design school. Stick to your quarterly reports and let the professionals do their jobs. In fact, think of the design studio as a shark-infested pool. Do not go in the water.

But there is a ray of light yet; the Italians are coming! Hopefully this supposed partnership with Fiat will buy Chrysler some time (and that small car platform everyone is dreaming about), something it desperately needs to bring some flavor back into its brands. Chrysler, it's time to get out of the boardroom and hit the pavement. It's time to find out what consumers are looking for and to bring it to them. Trust me. If you build it, they will come.

By Phil Alex

Phil Alex was born in Rhode Island in 1985, yet for reasons unbeknownst to him moved to South Carolina. He graduated with degrees in Finance and German from Wofford College in 2007 and has had a strange obsession with cars and travel since he was a wee lad. He currently resides a stone's throw from Japan's international airport in Narita. All of this can be seen on Facebook, so check it out. He makes no apologies for his articles and welcomes all feedback, as long as it is adamantly worded.