QOTD: Why Did the Chrysler 200 Really Die?

by Tim Healey

Published: July 10th, 2024

qotd why did the chrysler 200 really die

Posting a Chrysler 200S as the UCOTD today got my memory working. While I am sure there are still many on the road, I haven't thought about that model in a long time.

I then started thinking about why the 200 didn't last past the 2017 model year. The late Sergio Marchionne blamed the sloping rear roofline for not giving the car enough headroom. On the other hand, the surge in crossover and SUV sales may have doomed the car -- lots of midsize sedan models have been killed off because of consumers' love for crossovers.

There's also the fact that while the car was better than what it replaced, it wasn't good enough to steal sales from the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry.

It could also be all these factors, as well as others. None of these things are mutually exclusive.

So, what say you?

Sound off below.

[Image: Chrysler/Stellantis]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 38 comments

DungBeetle62 on Jul 11, 2024
A lot of people have cited the styling as being on the generic, meh or inoffensive side. Recall with the 200 immediately prior looked like : awkward high-roof boxiness with attempts to integrate art-deco cues from the Crossfire. Even if the execution of the 200 left something to be desired, there was aesthetic leap of galactic proportions that needed to be made. Then, to still cite the styling as an issue with the market basically migrating to blobtastic crossovers ("why have a nice smooth sedan, I want a minivan with hinged doors and a hood instead").

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El scotto on Jul 11, 2024
It was like my Great Aunt designed a car. Not completely clueless but a very long way from being informed.

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