By Steven Symes 
It’s no secret the Chrysler brand is struggling these days. Okay, let’s be franker: Chrysler is all but dead. Things didn’t go so great for the automotive icon under Fiat ownership and it’s looking even more bleak now that Stellantis is calling the shots. Frank B. Rhodes, Jr., great-grandson of the great Walter P. Chrysler, has put forth a public proposal of how to turn things around.
Four Porsche race cars stolen in a semi-truck heist.
“We need to keep our American brands here,” he says firmly in a video message. The man’s passion for his great-grandfather’s legacy is obvious. Considering what the brand has become now, with the Chrysler name on a meh minivan and the now-dead 300 sedan, it’s understandable why the guy is a little upset.
He goes into some detail about the history of Chrysler and what it accomplished back in the day, including during WWII. We imagine a lot of the normies or non-car people don’t know anything about this, but Chrysler was a great brand. Now look at it.
In an open letter to Stellantis shared with Mopar Insiders, Rhodes says a balance must be struck between honoring the heritage of Chrysler and forging ahead with new technologies, which includes electrification.
This means a Chrysler looks and feels different than other brands. Same thing goes for Dodge. That would also mean they don’t look and feel like each other, so no badge engineering.
One idea he puts forth is to put out hybrid versions of classic Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth models. That could be interesting.
Ultimately, Rhodes made it clear he’s trying to pony up the cash from investors to buy the Chrysler, Dodge, and Plymouth brands off Stellantis. We can’t imagine how much that would cost, especially since Dodge has been a cash cow. Although, with the current mismanagement with horrible new products, that price might plummet.
The whole point is to get the American brands back under American control. Would it work? What would a new Chrysler look like?
Image via Robert Soule/YouTube
Follow The Auto Wire on Google News.