For a brief booming time, the Germans had found American Car DNA in the form of: the Chrysler 300, the Dodge Charger, and even the poor-selling Jeep Commander. But like everyone else that has tried to manage Chrysler, they quickly hit a bust cycle and discovered that (like the other Detroit brands) they had way too much production capacity. And so the Germans sold at a big loss. Saving all three brands will be tricky for the new owners...
1. Chrysler. Daimler thought that they could take this brand upmarket, upscale but still one notch below Cadillac. This didn't work, and this brand- the volume brand-- doesn't mean anything. It needs to be distinguished from the much-higher volumes from Ford and Chevy somehow... but how? I'd say design. Aside from Cadillac (and nominally Saturn), there isn't an American brand that has distinctive design in and out. Chrysler has some history here -- with the 500 and the and the old cab forward sedans. Start calling attention to your cars that have a distinctive design story. And start selling this story. The trouble with this, of course, is that the newest Chrysler cars are almost all bland :-(
2. Dodge. This brand is about trucks and muscle. Don't sell anything else.
3. Jeep. This brand has legs, so much so that Daimler was considering keeping it. It's a worldwide brand of outdoorsy utility, and doesn't have the destructive baggage of Hummer. Make this the SUV/Crossover brand that offers high-quality, utilitarian and green vehicles. If anyone can make SUVs green-- through efficiency not just through lipservice-- it is Jeep. But drop the compass-- it's an embarrassment.
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