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The current state of Chrysler: 10 questions with CEO Chris Fuell

In case you missed it, Chrysler is still a happening item. The V8-powered 300C was a hit when it was revealed last year, selling out in mere hours. The Pacifica minivan is a rocking family bus, and there are some concepts floating around, too. That said, it’s been a minute since we sat down with Chrysler to see whatÂ’s new.  CEO Christine Fuell — known as Chris — has been on the job since 2021. To get a sense of where she thinks the company is now and where itÂ’s headed, we sat down with Fuell at last week's Chicago Auto Show for a one-on-one chat. From jokes about a Pacifica Hellcat to where Chrysler stands on controversial post-purchase subscription services, we take a look at what Fuell and Chrysler are up to. Read on below for the Q&A. Autoblog: WhatÂ’s the future for the Pacifica name plate? Fuell: Pacifica's the hero of the brand, and as we look toward the future, we want to make sure that Chrysler is known not just as a minivan brand, but a brand that makes minivans. We created the segment nearly 40 years ago. Autoblog: Is more electrification a path that you see for a minivan in the future? Fuell: It certainly is a natural progression Â… migrating to full electrification in the minivan is just kind of the natural next step. We made a commitment to fully electrify the portfolio by 2028, and so, every new product that we launch between now and then will be exclusively a battery electric propulsion system. Autoblog: Everybody likes to joke about the Pacifica Hellcat, but with electrification Â… ? Fuell: You can put some interesting tuning experiences in a minivan. Not saying that we would, but itÂ’s possible. Autoblog: Concerning the Chrysler 300C that sold out instantly, does it give you any pause in that journey to electric in seeing how rabid people are about this really cool V8 sedan? Fuell: In terms of the popularity of a V8, when you're going down this path of clean mobility, it can create a bit of a dichotomy in terms of what the brand really stands for. But at the end of the day, the 300 was a very important product to the brand when it launched in 2005. It set a tremendous trend for not only design but attracted a lot of new customers to the brand that we hadn't seen before and, so we wanted to send it off in a real respectful celebration.

Google-Chrysler autonomous project will include ride-sharing

Google's new Waymo automobile-technology division might have just gotten "way mo" interesting, if you'll excuse the pun. Google, which this spring said it would work with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles on the development of a self-driving Chrysler minivan prototype, is adding a ride-sharing component to the project, Bloomberg News says, citing people familiar with the process. Representatives with both Fiat Chrysler and Google parent Alphabet Inc. declined to comment to Bloomberg. The ride-sharing service, which would compete with fellow San Francisco Bay Area-based companies such as Uber and Lyft, may debut as soon as the end of next year. Uber continues to move forward with its own self-driving efforts, launching self-driving tests (with engineers behind the wheel) in Pittsburgh in September and announcing this week that it would start tests in San Francisco. Those efforts may be delayed, however, as the state of California requires special permitting for testing out self-driving technology, and while the state has granted those permits to automakers such as General Motors, Tesla and Ford, it hasn't for Uber. Google and Chrysler said earlier this year that it would develop about 100 autonomous-driving Pacifica prototypes, but the ride-sharing service would require more of those vehicles to be built. Google's auto-technology operations, now called Waymo, have been headed by former Hyundai executive John Krafcik since September 2015. The division has reportedly brought in more executive-level personnel to speed things along. Meanwhile, Chrysler is slated to unveil an all-electric prototype version of the Pacifica at Las Vegas's annual CES show next month. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Chrysler Pacifica-based crossover SUV coming soon

Chrysler is finally going to get another vehicle to support its minuscule lineup. According to Motor Trend, Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said that the company has a three-row crossover based on Chrysler's Pacifica minivan ready to go in as little as 18 months. Moving past the irony that Chrysler repurposed the old Pacifica crossover's name for a minivan, only for that very van to yield a new crossover, this is a vital vehicle for Chrysler that offers some interesting possibilities. Firstly, as we just mentioned, Chrysler hardly has anything in its lineup right now. With the departure of the 200, it was left with the 300 and the Pacifica. Both are perfectly fine machines, and we especially like the Pacifica, but they didn't leave the brand with much breadth for people who wanted something that wasn't a large sedan or a minivan. Both of those segments are giving up market share to crossovers, so a Pacifica-based crossover, one with three rows, will be beneficial beyond just offering another model, but also offering one that is more broadly popular, especially as more companies including Subaru and Volkswagen expand into the large three-row segment. The Pacifica platform also offers some unique opportunities for this upcoming Chrysler crossover. Using such a space-efficient starting point could give this Chrysler class-leading passenger and cargo space. Most interesting to consider, though, is the possibility of a plug-in hybrid. With the heavy lifting done during the Pacifica's development, it shouldn't be too difficult to adapt the PHEV powertrain to the new crossover. Shockingly, plug-in crossovers have only been tried by luxury brands and Mitsubishi, the latter with the Outlander PHEV. So this Chrysler could be in a class of its own by offering a larger PHEV than Outlander, but at a better price than the luxury automakers. As such, we're quite interested to see how this crossover turns out. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.