Spy Shots: Is this the 2009 Chrysler 300?
UPDATE: Professional spy photographer Brenda Priddy let us know this car is actually the 2009 Hyundai Genesis. That's why they pay her the big bucks, ladies and gentlemen. A supplier for Hyundai was likely renting time at the Chrysler tech center, or perhaps the cars featured shared technology.
A sharp-eyed poster over at GM Inside News happened to snag a shot of this mysterious sedan on Saturday morning in Auburn Hills, MI. The camo-covered car was coming out of the Chrysler tech center leading to speculation that this could be the next generation Chrysler 300. If it is, it would be as much of a departure from the current model as that was from the previous generation. The low roof gangster sedan styling is jetissoned in favour of something much more contemporary and potentially bland. After the disaster that was the new Sebring, maybe Chrysler has decided to play it safe with the LX replacement. Has anyone else seen this car, or have any information on it?
[Source: GM Inside News]
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jason 11:24AM (9/30/2007)
wow I hope this isn't the new 300. The current design is a car design milestone. This looks like an infiniti..... I'd also argue that the Sebring failed because they played it too safe. They tried to keep some of shape and style cues of the old one which resulted in a half breed mess. They should have started totally fresh like they did with the 300 redesign.
Reply
Jimbo 12:19PM (9/30/2007)
I agree with Mike: this is the Hyundai Genesis. The greenhouse is an exact match. Chrysler and Hyundai have cooperated on projects in the past and since Hyundai doesn't have a U.S. test center, maybe they're getting time at Chrysler's.
dcsbeemer 8:21AM (9/30/2007)
Mmm... Would Chrysler really alter their hot-sauce car this much? I'm not so sure.
From what I can see, it's much rounder and higher than the current 300, and from what I understand the current 300 is one of Chrysler's strongest-going products.
This seems a bit of a deviation from a successful recipe. Then again...
Reply
James 9:09AM (9/30/2007)
Car Magazine seem pretty adamant that the Nassau concept is the clearest indication of the 300's replacement: http://www.carmagazine.co.uk/first_drive.php?sid=945&page=1
Of course the Nassau concept was a hatchback, so it's pretty difficult to compare this saloon spyshot against it. The roofline looks pretty close though.
Reply
Mike W 9:31AM (9/30/2007)
I think it is the new Hyundai RWD sedan:
http://www.hyundai.ee/index.php?lang=rus&main_id=185&id=163
It's way too soon for Chrysler to have finished prototypes of the next 300 rolling around.
Don't know what a new Hyundai would be doing at the CTC, but there has been some Chrylser-Hyundai cooperation in the past.
Reply
forkontheleft 10:46AM (9/30/2007)
I think you're right. Same greenhouse and everything. Good work, Mike...
Tim 9:41AM (9/30/2007)
It's always boggled my mind as to why Chrylser isn't winning...They make a lot of cars that people actually want to buy(or at least I do)
Chrysler 300
Dodge Magnum
Dodge Charger
Jeep Wrangler
Jeep Wrangler Unlimited
Jeep Grand Cherokee
Chrysler Town and Country
Chrysler Pacifica
Chrysler PT Cruiser(Not my thing but many people want this)
Chrysler Crossfire
Dodge Caravan
Jeep Commander
Jeep Liberty
They just need to position the Avenger and Sebring as Competetion to the Accord/Camry
The Compass/Caliber as comp for the Civic/Corolla
Oh yea...dump the Aspen...freakin' garbage
If anything you would think Chrysler would be on top....
Reply
PJ 12:40PM (9/30/2007)
Here's Chrysler's problem: with the exceptions of the Commander, Wrangler, and Caravan, none of the vehicles on that list are part of Chrysler's '06-'07 product onslaught. Their best current products are the ones that entered the pipeline in the late '90s/early '00s.
The Avenger, Sebring, Caliber, Patriot, Compass, and Nitro are all garbage from a driving and perceived quality standpoint. It's anecdotal evidence, but I've talked to a dozen or so people who loved the Caliber's styling but were immediately turned off once they sat in the thing.
Crossfire is dropped for '08, Liberty is de-styled to look more like the Commander; a bad move considering who was buying it (folks who thought it was "cute"). The Commander, for its part, is failing because it looks like a fridge and its third row is useless. It's likely disappearing in '09.
Chrysler has spent eye-watering amounts of cash developing a product line that, as a whole, is little better than the one it replaced. And their decision to go to cheap, rectilinear, hard-plastic interiors is just mind-boggling considering all the industry buzz about interior design and tactile quality.
For the foreseeable future, Chrysler is in dire straits.
AMcA 9:41AM (9/30/2007)
That looks for all the world like another GM Epsilon. An Aura. Maybe that new Buick.
Maybe the GM guys went over to Chrysler to borrow a quart of oil.
Reply
ford_for_road 9:49AM (9/30/2007)
may be it is Chrysler imperial
Reply
Mike 10:26AM (9/30/2007)
Saw it Saturday morning on I75 up in that area while going up to the Mich RenFest, wasn't sure what it was either.
Reply
georgejetson 12:32PM (9/30/2007)
My semi-educated guess is that that is the rumored bigger-than-300 Chrysler sedan, possibly slated for introduction at the NY show.
It seems too early -- like, a full year early -- to be seeing next-gen 300s, but it's always possible that Cerberus cranked up the schedule.
Reply
Noidor 11:46AM (9/30/2007)
Right on Mike, I was about to say that I don't see finished prototypes rolling around on open roads. At best there would be mules, heavy cladding, and testing on proving grounds. I don't believe Chrysler would be so senseless with such a bland redesign. Such action would be disasterous right now. So then if it is the new Hyundai how the hell did it end up on Chrysler's proving grounds? Another McLaren/Ferrari type of spying saga? "Hello my name is Fernando Alonso and I'd like to know what weight distribution the red car is running. Get Stephney on that please!"
Reply
Avinash machado 11:47AM (9/30/2007)
Could it be the new RWD Impala?
Reply
Brooks 12:28PM (9/30/2007)
If it is the 300, they look to be joining the club of CLS-chasers. Yes, the CLS is a beautiful car, but practically every manufacturer has a clone coming out in the next few years. There's no reason to join that crush.
Reply
Ricardo 3:07PM (9/30/2007)
I have not seen this sedan on my two trips to the tech center I have seen alot of camoed journeys but not this mystery sedan but i'll keep my eyes peeled on my next spy photography trip to the tech center
Reply
syed 12:50PM (9/30/2007)
i'm 99% sure that's the next E-Class Mercedes. Look at the taillights...pure Mercedes.
Reply
Cary 8:20PM (9/30/2007)
THANK YOU! It doesn't take too mucht o see right through all that. You are looking at the 2010 E-Class Mercedes-Benz. You deserve a cookie for pointing that one out first.
Cary 8:29PM (9/30/2007)
Plus---look at the antenna fin above the rear window. That would be very un-american and un-chrysler to put something like that on there. Very M-E-R-C-E-D-E-S. It's been that way since, what, 2000?
gottacook 1:01PM (9/30/2007)
Whether this is a future Chrysler or not, at least it looks as if you can see out of it. Slit windows look cool, sure - since at least the early 1950s there have been people willing to spend hundreds of hours chopping and channeling their roofs for that lowered look - but I'd much rather have a car with no blind spots at all.
Recently I drove a Chrysler product for the first time in decades, a week's rental of a 4-cyl Dodge Avenger with only 1700 miles on it. This was in the Lake Tahoe area of Nevada/California (the southern end), with a decent-sized mountain to climb at least twice daily - that is, from lake level (altitude 6200 ft) to our resort at 7500 ft, on a road less than 3 miles long. Of course only an automatic was available, but the car did well even with the 4-cyl and a full passenger/cargo load. In fact the only real impediment was the huge blind spot created by the C pillar plus the large blacked-out areas of the rear side windows.
At least I didn't have to be seen driving a Sebring. But why can't there be a decent-looking car that's easy to see out of in any direction on a moment's notice? Does anyone have a currently available (USA) car to nominate, preferably one with a 5- or 6-speed manual shift? (My choice would be a Subaru Legacy wagon, but the ones made at the Indiana plant are now sold only to Canadians...)
Reply