A report from Autonews says Chrysler will be carpet-bombing car lots with up to 25 new models for its four sub-brands by 2013, up from 17. If new versions of the Dakota/Nitro/Viper don't appear, that number will be cut to 22. This still means that the littlest of the Detroit Three will be taking a huge step, challenging both its sales and marketing people with moving a lot of product.
Analysts and dealers seem to think that the leap in "fresh faces on the lot" may appear to be taking off more than the company chew. Not all seem to agree, however, with at least one general manager ready to jump in with both feet: "We're in desperate need of new product...I don't think that there's any number that would scare me away." That's the kind of Don Ready attitude that should make people excited about what Chrysler will be up to in the next few years.
As evidenced by both the Volkswagen and BMW groups, having models flowing out of every pore is possible. The key is proper differentiation, something Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne seems to have taken into account by dividing struggling Chrysler into "brand-based business units" and using different advertising firms for its very different brands.
Hopefully now we'll see more than just two sorta-kinda-different bodies on the same general car (like the Charger/300C and Liberty/Nitro, among others).
One issue brought up by Art Spinella of CNW Marketing Research is the fact that some brands will be sharing dealerships: "When you have that many different models all in one store and you set it up so that each brand tries to become its own entity, everything is at cross purposes...If I'm a salesman and someone comes in looking for X and there's some sort of big incentive on the other brand, what do I do?"
If all goes according to plan, Chrysler will be using its multi-marketing plan to finally do what it should have been doing all along: making Jeep the off-road brand, Chrysler the conservative car brand, Dodge the sporty car brand, and Ram the truck/utility brand.
Does Chrysler have enough fan and consumer support to try to sell more variety than Ford or Toyota? Time will tell. Until then, let us know what you think could be done to differentiate the Pentastar's brands in the comments below. They're listening.
By Phil Alex
Source: Autonews (Sub. Req)
