Photo: KDesign AG / Behance
Due to once-strong but now weak U.S. deliveries, Stellantis reported a 48% drop in first-half net income, for example. The company’s poor performance comes on the heels of GM and Ford announcing second-quarter earnings, with Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares saying the group “did not meet expectations, reflecting both a challenging industry environment and our operational challenges,” according to CNBC.
Much of the trouble stems from its U.S. operations, which are plagued by “arrogant mistakes” regarding inventory levels, production issues and sales strategies, the corner office chief added. The official also downplayed the impact of the company’s massive cost-cutting efforts, but we can easily see that Stellantis has left many of its U.S. brands exposed.
For example, Dodge is selling a poor copy of the Alfa Romeo Tonale as the Hornet with little success, and the launch of the eighth-generation Charger Daytona has been delayed due to several last-minute issues. Alone, the Durango continues the ICE banner at the moment, but will also give up the Hemi legacy. Furthermore, Chrysler has remained a shadow of itself with only one name in the lineup, and it doesn't even matter that the Pacifica dominates competing minivans because the segment is continuously shrinking and rivals can be counted on the fingers of one hand (Honda Odyssey, Toyota Sienna and Kia Carnival).
As a result, everyone is thinking that Stellantis could end up killing Chrysler because of a simple miscalculation: they are giving the brand nothing to sell. Fear not. At least the parallel universes of vehicular CGI are not afraid to act, and the imaginative realm of automotive digital content creators is hard at work when it comes to finding practical solutions for design projects.
For example, Kleber Silva, a Brazilian virtual artist known as KDesign AG on social media, decided to try his hand at CGI to imagine that Chrysler could be saved with one simple move: digital badge engineering. The pixel maestro kicked off the strategy with a digitally reborn Chrysler 300S that uses design cues from the Airflow concept to try to disguise the Alfa Romeo Giulia’s underpinnings.
Then, he also brought back the Chrysler 200 nameplate. Although not as a sedan like the original, but as a small crossover. Off-road based on the Alfa Romeo Junior fully electric and with a mild-hybrid engine: the vision is to have new models based on other Stellantis vehicles to drastically reduce costs and continue to innovate the range. Last but not least, there is also a new generation of the Chrysler Pacifica.
However, on this occasion, the changes are a bit more drastic, as the license plate goes from the dying MPV sector to the burgeoning crossover SUV segment: “Chrysler's seven-passenger minivan transforms into a rugged and roomy SUV inspired by the Jeep Commander.” Powered by the new Hurricane 3.0-liter twin-turbo inline-six engines, “the Pacifica SUV delivers rugged performance and is ideal for families who need space without compromising power or comfort.”
So what do you think: could the slowly dying Chrysler be resurrected with a simple range of engineered badges that draw inspiration from different models of the group's other brands, or are we already too late to the party?