Analysts Slam Chrysler's Restructuring Plan

The comments went from calling the cuts “light” to a Canadian analyst calling the plan “a joke.”

In the plan, Chrysler announced it would cut the Dodge Durango, Chrysler Aspen and PT Cruiser. The two large SUVs had already been announced as dead metal rolling, and the PT Cruiser was far from a surprise. We questioned why vehicles like the Jeep Compass (923 units sold in February), Jeep Commander (978) and Dodge Nitro (1,794) weren’t included.

Our commenters went so far as to say get rid of the poor-selling Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger.

A recent reduction in fleet sales meant the Sebring sold just 1,448 units in February. We can’t recall the Sebring lineup — including the sedan and convertible — ever selling that poorly. In February 2008, Chrysler sold 11,056 Sebrings, making last month’s decline an 87% drop. The company sold more Aspen full-size SUVs, 1,582, in February.

The midsize sedan market is a tough one, but the Chevy Malibu broke into the top 10 of best-selling cars in the country in February with 11,516 sales. And that was behind import stalwarts the Honda Accord (15,687), Nissan Altima (16,002) and Toyota Camry (20,634).

If your bread-and-butter sedan is selling at a tenth of the competition, it might be time to radically rethink your lineup. According to the analysts in the Detroit News piece, Chrysler hasn’t.

Chrysler cuts called modest (The Detroit News)