QOTD: Why Did the Chrysler 200 Really Die?

by Tim Healey

Published: July 10th, 2024

qotd why did the chrysler 200 really die

Posting a Chrysler 200S as the UCOTD today got my memory working. While I am sure there are still many on the road, I haven't thought about that model in a long time.

I then started thinking about why the 200 didn't last past the 2017 model year. The late Sergio Marchionne blamed the sloping rear roofline for not giving the car enough headroom. On the other hand, the surge in crossover and SUV sales may have doomed the car -- lots of midsize sedan models have been killed off because of consumers' love for crossovers.

There's also the fact that while the car was better than what it replaced, it wasn't good enough to steal sales from the Honda Accord or Toyota Camry.

It could also be all these factors, as well as others. None of these things are mutually exclusive.

So, what say you?

Sound off below.

[Image: Chrysler/Stellantis]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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2 of 39 comments

El scotto on Jul 11, 2024
It was like my Great Aunt designed a car. Not completely clueless but a very long way from being informed.

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JLGOLDEN on Dec 10, 2024
Every new generation of domestic sedan was better than the car it replaced, but always a generation or two behind Toyota, Honda, and maybe even Nissan. Think every generation of FWD Malibu compared to Camry/Accord. Think Chevy Cavalier to Cobalt to Cruze Gen 1 to Cruze Gen 2. All better than the previous car in some measure, but not leading the way in reliability/resale/overall reputation. These were purchased instead of the more dignified Corolla/Civic/Sentra because of GM's 0% financing on top of juicy rebates.

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