[DRKS1D3]

Originally Posted by 90503

The Charger and Challenger are proof that cars are bought based on styling....For years everyone has been predicting the old, outdated Dodge "platforms" will be the car's demise. Not so. The Charger and Challenger platform was fine years and years ago after it first came out, and it's still not a problem today for Dodge. Camaro keeps shaking their head wondering why their "platform" isn't selling more. Answer, those who research it may choose Camaro for its platform....Most just see the outside of the car and are good to go.

Perhaps the lesson that Challenger and Charger have learned is that if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Unfortunately, that is not the case. FCA is not on solid financial ground. Both Fiat and Alfa sell very poorly in the US. Sales of Fiat fell almost 50% from '17 to '18 and Alfa didn't fair much better. Chrysler sells only two vehicles (one of which is the Pacifica minivan). That market has been dead for years. FCA will take care of Fiat and Alfa first and if the American companies they purchased, have to suffer...so be it. RAM builds trucks, so they are fine. Jeep is one of the best selling brands of 4x4's, so they are fine. Chrysler and Dodge would be the first to feel the heat. I'm actually surprised that Chrysler is still around and besides all of the fleet sales from Charger and especially the Challenger (27% annually), what else does Dodge have? The Journey is easily replaceable through Jeep. The Jeep Grand Cherokee already outsells the Durango >3:1 and if you don't absolutely require 3rd row seating, why even look at one? And again, the Caravan is simply in a dead market. They are indeed in a very tough spot.

That is why the Charger and Challenger are still running on the same >10 year old platforms with minor tweaks here and there. FCA delegates the money and the money is stretched thin. Speaking of money being stretched thin, let's not forget about the $$$ millions that were wasted on the design and development of the Chrysler 200 and the Dodge Dart. They were discontinued before the ink on the dealer brochures was even dry.

And I don't want to catch flak from the Mopar faithful. This is in no way a knock on Mopar's products. They are simply in a rough position. It was a nice gesture for Fiat to buy these brands, but with their backs against the wall, the Italian brands will be taken care of first, then the high-volume "American" brands, then the stragglers will be dealt with. It's sad to see, but the writing was on the wall when Marchionne attempted to sell Dodge a handful of times these past few years and nobody would return his calls.

I am in hopes that things turn around for them because when businesses compete, the consumer ultimately wins. This past decade, Chevy, Ford and Dodge have been putting on a show with these pony car wars.