The 300 will however receive a radical face-lift in 2011 but will maintain the bold styling and low roofline that characterize the current model (pictured). Redesigning a car as iconic as the 300 is proving difficult for Chrysler’s design team, which is already suffering from being downsized to just 23 staff members following the sale of the Pacifica Design studio to Mercedes-Benz.
Speaking with Wards-Auto, Chrysler designer Lou Gasevski said the team is employing design methods borrowed from Porsche where only a little detail is changed between each model but the cars remain modern. According to Gasevski, the exterior design of the car will be “evolutionary,” while the interior will make a “huge leap.”
One area that will see the greatest improvement is the quality of interior materials, which Gasevski claims will be comparable with Asian rivals in terms of features, fit-and-finish, and quality. One of the features designers are playing around with is a new dual viewing screen that allows the primary screen to project a movie to the front-seat passenger, while the driver can view maps or vehicle information.
The engine line-up is expected to remain unchanged, however Chrysler has stated that its legendary HEMI V8 isn’t part of its future powertrain plans and it may no longer be available in the updated 300.
Reader Comments
Mon May 26 2008 8:22 AM
chris says
keep the V8.. just charge people out the butt for it. the worst thing you can do is not offer options. if it costs the company a lot to offer the engine, cause of lower CAFE, or with the lower demand for it, the increased "per unit" costs of even offering it.. then who cares.. so long as you make the customer happy and you break even on a certain portion of the vehicle.. so what.
as far as the evolutionary idea, I like it. this really is one of the few chryslers that is even appealing and its everything to do with the aggressive styling. if it gets a nice little refresh, something that catches the eye.. then people will once again say "woah" when it rolls down the block. with a tommy gun shticking outta e'ry wind'r.
Mon May 26 2008 8:51 AM
torpeau says
Since Mercedes still owns 20% of Chrysler, maybe they'll allow Pacific Design to help out. It's the least they can do for the sorry state they left Chrysler in!
Mon May 26 2008 11:27 AM
vb says
I think it's astonishing that with the technology of the W210 Mercedes (E-Class from 1995 to 2002) Chrysler managed to make a car that's superior in quality to everything they made before. That must mean that either they did a hell of a god job or their former technology was just about 10 years behind that of Mercedes.
Mon May 26 2008 12:10 PM
94 taurus owner says
Agreed.
Mon May 26 2008 1:33 PM
chris says
vb,.. thats exactly it. and actually, my understanding is that the 300 was so far ahead of its time, for the price that they'd asked for it, that the gain on the product has been marginal at best. thats why merc dumped chrysler,.. they thought they could pull a ford and get a synergy going by offering advanced products in europe and filtering those through to NA.. which didn't work because the gap between chrysler and merc is much more than between ford and euro ford... or even NA ford and volvo for that matter, which is where euro ford has gotten all of their luster.
Wed Jul 30 2008 5:44 PM
m.taylor says
is there anyway possible i may take a sneak peek at the new body style of the chrysler 300 design for 2010.
Wed Jul 30 2008 6:01 PM
m.taylor says
now lets imagine the actual front of the chrysler nassau on the next generation chrysler 300 along with that round roof line on the side. the chrysler nassau taillights and also a small boat tail of some sort on the trunk like the imperial concept. and just a note: lets try actual colors for example; burgundy with white interior, brown with a camel color interior, black with a gray or canary yellow. i saw this on a sebring. some colors on the three hundred now are also ok. one more item far as the head lights are concerned lets look at the buick invicta concept/lacross. just trying to get away from the ordinary. will check with you later on the status of our design later thanks..................................m. taylor
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