Aside from a few new Vipers, a customized Chrysler 300 and a beefed up Mopar Jeep Wrangler, the only thing that appeared to be new at the Chrysler display were the models who seemed to be getting more attention.
LA show attendee Raffe Lazarias, 24, said there wasn’t anything really appealing about the GM and Chrysler booth.
“There doesn’t seem to be much by the way of Jeeps and trucks here,” said Lazarias. “That’s why it’s dead here (at the Chrysler booth) and like ‘ten thousand’ people in the Porsche booth.”
The issue, believes Lazarias, is not with the vehicles, but in reaching consumers.
“I think the (American carmakers) are doing better,” he said. “I think the mid to late nineties was a dead zone, but now the new Jeeps are looking good , the new trucks are looking good. I think their engines are getting better. But I think in LA it’s going to be hard for those cars to break in. The culture is so diverse.”
Chrysler announced on Nov. 4 that 75 percent of their current vehicle offerings will be modified within the next 14 months, and 100 percent of their product portfolio will be renewed in some fasion by 2012. But clearly that plan hasn’t been conveyed to some people.
Not the case with Ford.
MERCURY OR LEXUS?
Robin Mack, 56, said she came to the show to cross shop the Mercury Milan Hybrid with the new Lexus HS Hybrid and because of all the excitement around Ford now.
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