Allpar has an interesting take on the whole “Is Fiat Planning to Kill Dodge” thing that Ward’s Auto kicked off two weeks ago. Allpar claims that instead of losing Dodge, we instead might be looking at “the first real focus Dodge has had since it was named Dodge Brothers.” Allpar thinks that Dodge should be allowed to take the “‘big muscle’ rep” and run with it. I think that would be awesome. But there are a few problems with this idea.
1) Chrysler would lose Dodge as the bread and butter brand that it has been for a long time and force Chrysler to take that role, when Chrysler has historically been more of the “luxury” brand. And Americans aren’t going to accept Alfa Romeo or Maserati as substitutes in the a luxury area.
2) Chrysler has already invested a lot in the SRT brand.
3) CAFE standards. You can’t build a brand on performance and rear wheel drive anymore, unless you are talking high end, low volume (and that’s SRT).
This discussion reminds me of the whole Pontiac discussion a few years ago, and we all know how that ended… But read the article at Allpar and see what you think.
