Filed under: Economy, China, Chrysler, LLC.
Chrysler may partner with Great Wall on small car
One of Chrysler's long term success trategies is to partner with as many other automakers as possible to share the burden of developing new cars that would otherwise sink the Auburn Hills-based company if it were forced to go it alone. For the longest time we've known that the Pentastar was in talks with various Chinese automakers to develop a small car, and so far the only fruit of that is a rebadged version of the Chery A1 called the Dodge Breeze that's been spied out and about. China Car Times is now reporting that Chrysler and Great Wall may be working together on a car that would be produced by the Chinese automaker and sold around the world as a rebadged Chrysler. The U.S. automaker has reportedly sent engineers to China to help develop the car and ensure it's up to the world standards for safety and emissions. We don't yet know if the two companies are working on an all new vehicle that might be inspired by the Dodge Hornet concept or will use an existing one in Great Wall's lineup, though more than a few of its cars on sale in China come dangerously close to being clones of other cars like the Scion xB, Opel Astra and Fiat Panda. Check out Great Wall's full line-up and let us know what vehicle you think could wear the Pentastar badge proudly.
[Source: China Car Times]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
ASEVENSEE4 10:35AM (10/08/2008)
Hey.. that thing doesn't look too bad.
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OM617 3:22PM (10/08/2008)
I know. Great things can happen when you take an ugly roller skate/toaster Scion Xb and make it less of a box.
Melamine 3:04PM (10/08/2008)
Chinese Cars vs. Japanese/Korean cars: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GZ3oyo-irJ4
Avinash machado 10:40AM (10/08/2008)
Does Chrysler have a suicide wish?
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I_Hate_China 10:48AM (10/08/2008)
Well, it will be restyled...
TJ 11:03AM (10/08/2008)
Do you have a reading comprehension problem?
'The U.S. automaker has reportedly sent engineers to China to help develop the car and ensure it's up to the world standards for safety and emissions.'
I_Hate_China 12:23PM (10/08/2008)
@ TJ
> Do you have a reading comprehension problem?
No, you don't understand how this kind of outsourcing deal works. Chrysler may have sent a few engineers as consultants, but the actual "engineering"(If you can call it that) is done by Chinese.
Judy Zik 12:29PM (10/08/2008)
This sounds wonderful. Chrysler could certainly use a small car right now.
Except. Chrysler engineers haven't exactly been blowing us away with their designs lately. On top of that their best people will be busy trying to get the Sebring and 300 redesigns done. So we are to believe that a team of their second string talent is going to head to China and magically raise their design and production standards in time to get this vehicle to market while it still matters?
At best I would hope they can get something pretty low tech (think Aveo) to market for a rock bottom price. With Dodge styling it could sell well in the upcoming economic climate. After all Pony's, Lada's and Yugo's sold in the early 80's because the economy was bad and people wanted something cheap.
Kotse 1:13PM (10/08/2008)
Dodge partners the Chinese is all good. Just make sure it's "melamine free"... ;)
friko 1:19PM (10/08/2008)
@Judik Zik.
Engineers don't design cars. If that were the case, cars would only have ugly-functional designs. Car/industrial designers design cars.
Judy Zik 1:32PM (10/08/2008)
@Friko
I wasn't talking about styling. The Sebring isn't just an ugly car to look at it is an ugly car to drive with poor handling and steering and much touted new features like the beverage chiller on the Caliber turned out to be pretty useless. Also Chrysler is one of the only automakers to not have a SINGLE model listed as a Top Safety Pick by the IIHS. This is all completely related to engineering.
ehisforadam 2:57PM (10/08/2008)
We engineers can only do what the financial people and executives allow us to do. If engineers and designers were given the proper resources things would be a lot better. And the suspension is bad on the Sebring, but I've heard good things about the Journey, which is basically the same under neither. That's thanks to executives who drive it say it needs to be like this or that.
6speed_turbo 10:40AM (10/08/2008)
those are A8 wheel knockoffs......:(
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G-Meister 11:20AM (10/08/2008)
No, they're supposed to resemble the Korean flag- come on- how many original, cost-effective designs are there for a wheel?
Soccer Mom 10:44AM (10/08/2008)
Chrysler is well known for its quality cars, no doubt about it. Partnering with Great Wall may help rebuilding the image.
If lead paint didn't poison you and you were fortunate to escape an accident ('cause if you get into one that "barely made 1 star on crash test" wouldn't save ya), it will probably start losing parts even before warranty expires, falling completely apart within 3-4 years.
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TJ 11:04AM (10/08/2008)
'The U.S. automaker has reportedly sent engineers to China to help develop the car and ensure it's up to the world standards for safety and emissions.'
J M C 3 10:49AM (10/08/2008)
That would make a great taxi.
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I_Hate_China 10:51AM (10/08/2008)
Cerberus is preparing the sale of Dodge brand to Chinese by reselling Chinese cars under Dodge brand. This guarantees that there would be a number of Chinese bidders when Dodge brand is put on auction.
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Soccer Mom 10:55AM (10/08/2008)
Chinese Dodge. That's going to help its sales.
BoneHeadOtto 11:04AM (10/08/2008)
we already drive Mexican Dodges so whats the difference. Id rather drive my American Toyota (sienna built in america)