By DEE-ANN DURBIN and TOM KRISHER
AP Auto Writers
AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Chrysler sold more than 118,000 Sebring sedans in 2001. Eight years later, the automaker barely sold 27,000 as its bankruptcy filing sent customers fleeing to the car’s newer, better competitors.
Chrysler now has a turnaround plan that promises improved quality and a stream of new models. But it won’t work unless Chrysler can get cars like the Sebring back on people’s shopping lists. To do that, Chrysler is going back to the basics: Reinventing its car brands – Chrysler as a luxury line, Dodge as a quirky value brand – and reintroducing them with head-turning ads.
It’s a tall order, but Chrysler insists it can be done.