Reporter | Li Wenbo
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In the era of electric vehicles, the fate of the "Detroit Three" - GM, Ford and Chrysler has shown a diametrically opposite direction.
GM and Ford actively embraced the changes and turned the bow. Chrysler continued to slump after being merged into the Stellantis Group.
As founded in 1912. Chrysler, an American automobile company that was once on the verge of bankruptcy twice, has made the company grow rapidly and occupy the US market with a constantly new model strategy and a shrewd management system. But it was such a thriving automaker that it was now reduced to having only three cars on sale: the Sedan 300 and the MPV Grand Jaylon, and the product line had not been updated for about 11 years.
The new Chrysler Grand Jaylon, introduced in 1983, is the grandmaster of MPV models, and in the 35 years since the Chrysler Grand Jaylon was launched, seven generations have been launched, each of which has almost led to the technological transformation of MPV models. Globally, more than 14.6 million families have chosen Chrysler Grand Jaylon.
In 2019 alone, the new Chrysler Grand Jaylon won the 2019 Top Ten Models of the Year by CAR AND DRIVER, the IIHS (Association for Highway Safety and Insurance) Best Safety Choice Award, the Consumer's Guide's Most Worthy Model, and the Cars.com's Family Car of the Year award.
In 2016, FICK Group delivered 100 new Chrysler Grand Jetlon Hybrid MPV for autonomous driving modifications to Waymo; in 2017, Waymo added 500 new Chrysler Grand Jetlon Hybrid Editions and equipped them with automatic driving systems; in the future, FICK Group will continue to provide Waymo with up to 62,000 new Chrysler Grand Jetlon Hybrid Models for deeper and more intelligent autonomous driving research and development.
Today's Chrysler can be described as stormy and difficult to ride. With the Stellantis Group taking power, Chrysler finally ushered in a day of change: at this year's CES, Chrysler said it would stop producing gasoline-powered cars by 2028 and fully transform the pure electric brand.
The decision makes sense for both The Stellantis Group and Chrysler. With only three cars in the lineup, Stellantis doesn't have to spend millions of dollars to electrify the brand's entire lineup. In addition, if Chrysler wants to compete with competitors, its model lineup needs to undergo an overhaul. Instead of spending money on modernizing the lineup, it is better to simply abandon existing products and produce pure electric vehicles.
If there's any downside to the plan, it's that Chrysler doesn't have any pure electric cars on sale, or even hints at the possibility of a future eviction. While announcing the transformation, Chrysler showcased the Airflow concept car. This all-electric SUV offers part of the brand's insight into the future.
While Chrysler hasn't confirmed that the Airflow concept will go into production, the brand's first electric car will come out in 2025, with Chrysler having about three pure electric vehicles on sale by 2028.
Last year, Stellantis Group announced a $35.5 billion investment in electric vehicles, and Chrysler will be favored by some of the investments, but not in large quantities.
In the Chinese market, Chrysler's news stayed in 2019.
"The Airflow concept represents the future direction of the Chrysler brand, giving people a glimpse into the design features, and we plan to transition to pure electric in 2028," said Chris Feuell, CEO of the Chrysler brand. "Chrysler is an iconic American automotive brand with a tradition in creating new areas of advanced technology and products."
The first step toward electrification is a powerful electric vehicle platform. The Airflow Concept adopts the Stellantis Group STLA architecture, is based on the STLA medium platform, has a theoretical endurance of between 563 and 643 km, and is fully driven by two 150 kW electric drive modules (EDMs). The module integrates the motor, gear drive system and inverter into one unit.
The Chrysler Airflow Concept has a new E&E architecture from the Stellantis Group that combines hardware and software to help maximize its lifecycle.
Built on that, the STLA Smart Cockpit provides each interior crew with a separate screen, each with its own camera, perfect for video calls and meetings on the go.
Thanks to the partnership with BMW, the Chrysler Airflow Concept boasts L3-level driver assistance capabilities that allow drivers to take their eyes off the road and their hands off the steering wheel in certain situations, allowing them to grab their time to work or play video games with other people in the car.
Getting Chrysler to electrify is definitely the right thing for the Stellantis Group. But whether the brand will launch electric cars that can compete with Tesla, BMW, Audi and Ford is another matter.