Chrysler May Look to Nissan for Way Out of Midsize-Sedan Mess
By Bill Visnic August 7, 2008With deals already inked to produce compact cars and fullsize pickups for one another, the Wall Street Journals reports Nissan Motor Co. Ltd. may produce midsize sedans for Chrysler LLC.
Such an arrangement presumably would give Chrysler a more-competitive play in the heart of the U.S. car market than it currently enjoys with its Sebring and Dodge Avenger, entries launched in 2007 that were immediately criticized for cheap interiors, overwrought styling and underachieving engineering.
Leveraging Nissan for the midsize model also would release Chrysler from the large investment required to engineer a next-generation replacement for the Sebring and Avenger, not to mention allow Chrysler to come to market faster with that replacement. If a new Nissan-built Chrysler midsizer was derived from Nissan's strong-selling Altima, Chrysler would have access to a domestically produced midsize sedan that is one of the market's more successful entries - each month, Nissan typically sells at least three times more Altimas than Sebring and Avenger combined.
The current Altima was all-new for 2007, so it is unlikely a heavily reengineered replacement will be due for a least two more years, meaning Chrysler could start, perhaps relatively quickly, with a rebadged version of today's Altima, production of which Nissan intends to increase by adding more capacity at its assembly plant in Canton, MS.
Nissan could be seeking to use the deal to hike utilization rates at its North America manufacturing plants, where the company is hastening to rejigger product mixes in light of the quick departure of the nation's buyers from pickup trucks and SUVs. Last month, Nissan announced it was offering voluntary separation packages for employees at its longstanding assembly plant in Smyrna TN, and a nearby powertrain assembly plant in Dechard, which makes engines and transmissions for all of Nissan's North American-produced vehicles.
Chrysler and Nissan earlier announced that Nissan will build a compact car for Chrysler sometime around 2011. And Chrysler will take over manufacturing of Nissan's fullsize Titan pickup truck, also around the same time. Nissan has struggled to gain in foothold for Titan in the U.S. pickup market, which is dominated by entries from the U.S. domestic manufacturers, including Chrysler with its Ram.
PHOTOS:
1. Chrysler Sebring
2. Nissan Altima
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From a driver's standpoint, an Altima rebadged as a Chrysler is not an unwelcome proposition. But this announcement also underscores the point that Chrysler LLC has little interest in building original product anymore. The Altima platform is versatile enough that vastly more competent replacements for the Journey and even the Grand Caravan could be based off of it. And when Nissan builds that compact for Chrysler, that'll take care of the Caliber, Compass and Patriot. So what's left besides the Ram, Dakota and the Jeeps? Just the rear-drive Challenger, Charger and 300 cobbled together from Mercedes-Benz parts
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