Chrysler, or the hypothetical rebirth of a premium brand
- The Chrysler brand has become the top-of-the-range brand of the Chrysler group since the end of the Imperial brand in 1975. This brand has therefore been in competition with Cadillac (GM group) and Lincoln (Ford group) since that time.
- The Chrysler group then made up of the Plymouth, Dodge and Chrysler brands bought the Jeep brand in 1987. Then this group merged in 1998 with the German carmaker Daimler-Benz to form the DaimlerChrysler group. The Chrysler group, which was relieved of the entry-level brand Plymouth in 2001, regained its independence in 2007 before filing for bankruptcy in 2009.
- The group made up of the Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands was then bought by the Italian group Fiat, to form the Fiat-Chrysler group in 2011. Ten years later, in 2021, the Fiat-Chrysler group merged with PSA to form the Stellantis group.
- While the former boss of Fiat-Chrysler, Sergio Marchionne, had planned to end the Chrysler and Dodge brands that had become moribund, the new management of Stellantis, Carlos Tavares, wants to believe in the sustainability of these two brands.
- We can say that the Chrysler brand almost disappeared, its production volume (based mainly in North America) falling from 800,000 units in 2005 to 100,000 in 2021 (-87.5%).
- Stellantis' strategy is to perpetuate the Chrysler brand through the electrification of its models, the next one called Airflow should be launched in 2025. The task remains delicate, however, because it will not be easy to increase the level of sales in the long term, which certainly increased by 63% in 2022 compared to 2021, but remains very far from its past scores.