Chrysler Nuovo SUV (Notizie)

[daimlerchrysler]

Chrysler lancerà un nuovo suv su base del Dodge Durango. Dovrebbe essere presentato allo show di Detroit e commercializzato negli usa in estate. Articolo preso da detnews

Finally, Chrysler brand to build its first SUV

Upscale offering is part of rollout of '06 models aimed at building on recent turnaround.

By Brett Clanton / The Detroit News

Comment on this story

Send this story to a friend

Get Home Delivery

DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler brand is about to gamble there is room for yet another large, upscale SUV.

Next summer, Chrysler plans to introduce its first sport utility vehicle as part of a major rollout of new models in 2006 aimed at building on the automaker's recent turnaround.

The SUV will be based on the current, seven-seat Dodge Durango but will be more upscale and is expected to debut at the Detroit auto show in January, said a Chrysler official familiar with the plan.

The project signals Chrysler remains bullish on the large SUV market despite a recent thaw in demand for big, truck-based SUVs such as the Chevrolet Tahoe, Ford Expedition and Toyota Sequoia.

Chrysler could face challenges in putting its middle-market Chrysler brand up against established luxury marques such as Cadillac, Volvo and Lincoln. But the automaker's recent success in pitching its new 300 sedan as upscale yet affordable suggests the automaker may have cracked the code for entering richer segments, said Jeremy Anwyl, president of Edmunds.com, a Santa Monica, Calif.-based Web site that offers car-buying advice.

"If they took that formula into the luxury SUV category ... they would probably have a good story for the marketplace," Anwyl said.

Chrysler plans to resurrect a vehicle name from DaimlerChrysler's past for the new SUV and is planning to build the model at a plant in Newark, Del., where the Durango is assembled, the Chrysler source said.

Because the Durango was just redesigned and the costs of launching a totally new vehicle are high, it is unlikely that the Chrysler-badged SUV will look much different from Durango. Analysts expect to see a different front grille and headlights, a more refined interior and possibly a different tailgate.

No new jobs are expected to be created in Newark to support the production of a Chrysler SUV. But Chrysler will install new tooling in the factory, which could mean tens of millions of dollars in new investment.

Built in 1951, the Newark plant received a $180 million upgrade in 2003 to prepare for the launch of the 2004 Dodge Durango. But the plant is underutilized and could be used to build other models.

Chrysler officials declined to confirm plans for a new Chrysler SUV, citing a company policy not to talk about future vehicles.

Chrysler is planning to introduce a company-record 11 new vehicles in 2006, including a small wagon to replace the Dodge Neon compact car and redesigned versions of the Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebring sedans. The rollout will complete the automaker's pledge to launch 25 new vehicles between 2004 and 2006 as part of an ongoing turnaround.

Chrysler has not announced where many of the upcoming models will be built, which has left workers wondering at factories such as Newark.

"It's my ultimate goal to get another product or two or three in this plant," said Jim Fisher, president of UAW Local 1183, which represents many of the plant's 2,000 hourly workers. "The people deserve it. They work hard."

Fisher said he has been in talks with Chrysler to bring another vehicle to the plant but has not received confirmation about a Chrysler SUV.

Traditional truck-based SUVs captured 12.1 percent of the U.S. vehicle market in April, their lowest share since May 1996, according to J.D. Power and Associates' Power Information Network. The firm said U.S. consumers are shifting away from truck-based SUVs into more fuel-efficient SUVs that ride on car chassis. The so-called "crossover" SUVs claimed a record 49 percent of the SUV market in April.

But while overall demand for traditional SUVs such as the Durango is cooling, sales of luxury SUVs -- both traditional and crossover -- are still growing and drawing Chrysler, Buick, Mercury and others to add or expand upscale SUV offerings.

This fall, Chrysler will launch the Jeep Commander, a seven-passenger luxury SUV for its rugged off-road brand. The vehicle could be an indicator of whether the automaker's customers are willing to shell out $40,000 or more for an SUV when they're used to paying less for Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep products.

Chrysler has to be careful that a new upscale Chrysler SUV does not eat into Commander sales, said Jim Hall, an industry analyst at AutoPacific Inc. in Southfield. It's risky, Hall said, because Jeep- and Chrysler-brand vehicles are often sold at the same dealerships, while Dodge vehicles are sold at separate stores.

"If a Chrysler-branded SUV hurts Durango, that's actually OK because you're substituting for a higher-profit unit," Hall said. "But that's not the issue. The issue is in a given showroom, have you suddenly made the Commander less of an upscale product?"

It's all speculation to longtime Chrysler dealer Martin "Hoot" McInerney. The 76-year-old owner of Northland Chrysler Jeep and Oakland Dodge said he gave up trying to predict the success or failure of a new vehicle a long time ago. While he said he could "absolutely" sell a new Chrysler SUV, he isn't ready to call it the next big thing.

[Guglielmo]

nessuna foto al riguardo ?

[daimlerchrysler]

No cmq credo che non sarà venduta in europa. il dodge durango è lungo ben 5,15 m

[daimlerchrysler]

Il noma sarà Aspen

[carrera4]

eppure a me le ultime jeep, specialmente la grand cherokee, sembrano già delle chrysler in versione fuoristrada... Forse in europa non serve questa Aspen

[Touareg 2.5]

Ma secondo me sarà la Jeep Compass