As It Awaits New Models, Chrysler Does What It Can With the 300

Steph Willems
by Steph Willems

If Chrysler’s model lineup was a parade, you wouldn’t have to wait long before crossing the street. With just two models on offer — the Pacifica minivan and elderly 300 full-size sedan — following the ill-fated 200’s demise, the Chrysler brand’s U.S. sales volume has fallen to a six-year low.

Plans are afoot to repopulate the meager stable, but the first of two new models — both crossovers — won’t arrive until the end of the decade. In the meantime, the only “new” product you’ll see is a refreshed 300. After a $3,345 price cut for 2018, the 300 appears destined for more buyer enticements in 2019.

Sources have told Automotive News that the second-generation 300’s second refresh will be a major one, aimed at shedding weight from the porky sedan. Currently, the base rear-drive V6 model tips the scales at 4,013 pounds.

The publication surmises that a crash diet could bring about the addition of a turbocharged four-cylinder to the model, further boosting fuel economy. The only obvious candidate is the 2.0-liter “Hurricane” four destined for the 2018 Jeep Wrangler — an engine equipped with a fuel-saving belt starter-generator that’s rumored to make roughly 300 horsepower. As well, spy photos cropped up earlier this year of a 300 equipped with a 707-horsepower V8 borrowed from the Dodge Challenger and Charger Hellcat. Expect that option sometime in late 2018, AN claims.

While new engines and styling could give the 300 a new lease on life, the model’s long-term future in a rapidly declining segment remains hazy. The same sources claim that, unlike its Dodge siblings, the 300 will not receive Alfa Romeo’s rear-drive Giorgio platform. This corroborates a report from last year, placing the model’s survival beyond 2020 in doubt. After first scheduling a platform swap in 2018, FCA has pushed back the Giorgio platform’s arrival until 2020, meaning no all-new full-sizers until the 2021 model year.

With crossovers taking over the world and passenger car sales plummeting, there’s good reason to believe the 300’s refresh is just an attempt to squeeze a final bit of profit from a doomed model.

As for the brand’s future, it’s crossovers all the way. A three-row crossover based on the Jeep Cherokee starts production in 2019, followed a year later by a full-size three-row rumored to carry the Aspen name.

[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]

Steph Willems
Steph Willems

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  • APaGttH APaGttH on Sep 18, 2017

    2007 - put a HEMI in everything, we'll make it up somehow 2017 - put a Hellcat in everything, we'll make it up somehow

  • MRF 95 T-Bird MRF 95 T-Bird on Sep 19, 2017

    A new 300/Magnum sport wagon would be a good segment breaker. For folks who are not into CUV/SUV's.

  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
  • FormerFF We bought three new and one used car last year, so we won't be visiting any showrooms this year unless a meteor hits one of them. Sorry to hear that Mini has terminated the manual transmission, a Mini could be a fun car to drive with a stick.It appears that 2025 is going to see a significant decrease in the number of models that can be had with a stick. The used car we bought is a Mk 7 GTI with a six speed manual, and my younger daughter and I are enjoying it quite a lot. We'll be hanging on to it for many years.
  • Oberkanone Where is the value here? Magna is assembling the vehicles. The IP is not novel. Just buy the IP at bankruptcy stage for next to nothing.
  • Jalop1991 what, no Turbo trim?
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