Chrysler news

Chrysler has tried that developing new models, but too often it hits them where the customers ain’t. The automaker cannot afford any more of those errors as it reshapes its model line and moves into new market niches over the next several years. In the past, Chrysler developed vehicles that were sized between, rather than in, the most popular vehicle segments. The Dodge Durango SUV, for instance, offers most of the benefits of a large SUV in a package a bit bigger than a midsize.

It looked like a winning combination. It turned out, however, that buyers of big SUVs wanted a big SUV. Midsize customers already had as much truck as they cared for, leaving the Durango in limbo. Its sales suffered, and the plant that builds it is slated to close. Developing ‘tweeners is a risky strategy, said Jim Hall, managing director of 2953 Analytics, a Birmingham consultancy. “When you try to build a ‘tweener, you never know if it’s going to work until the vehicle goes on sale …

and then it’s too late if you were wrong,” he said. The strategy worked with the first Dodge Dakota pickup, which was larger than compact trucks from Ford, GM, Nissan and Toyota. More important than size, however, it was the only small pickup with a V8, giving it an advantage over the competition. The current Dakota — and other automakers’ small pickups — has since grown a bit more, and the segment turned into a money pit full of trucks priced and sized too much like full-size pickups.

Chrysler’s new 2009 Dodge Journey crossover SUV occupies a middle ground between established compact models like the Ford Escape and Honda CR-V and popular newcomers like the Saturn Outlook. It remains to be seen how the Journey will fare. I’ve driven one briefly, and it has a number of attractive features, including its interior space.