Gilles: Chrysler to emulate Apple, grown men will cry when they see new Chrysler 300
Since Chrysler Group LLC CEO Sergio Marchionne cancelled his 2010 Chicago Auto Show speech to sign a production deal in Russia, the company’s chief design officer and the CEO of the Dodge Ralph Gilles stepped in to fill the void. During his speech, Gilles said that his hero is Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs and that Chrysler aspires to regain its own spirit of innovation by emulating the computer company.
Chrysler is known as the inventor of the minivan and the SUV segments.
Gilles provided the press with glimpses of future products like the next-generation Chrysler 300 sedan that will debut in December.
“Hopefully, when you see that car, grown men and women will have tears running from their eyes,” Gilles said. “Hopefully, when you see that, you will say, “˜Go, America.’ “
Gilles said that Chrysler’s great heritage of inventing segments will be its main focus and that regaining that philosophy will not be enough for the company to succeed.
“The problem is that every one of those vehicles were one-hit wonders,” he said. “We can’t do that anymore. The philosophy at Chrysler is to do every vehicle that way.” He said that Chrysler wants to get away from putting out “me too” vehicles that look like everything else on the market.
– By: Omar Rana
Source: Automotive News (Subscription Required)
