The future of the Chrysler brand was murky when Fiat Chrysler Automobiles merged with France’s PSA Group in 2021 to form Stellantis.
One year later, the vision is much sharper: The product-starved brand plans to debut its first battery-electric model by 2025 and will eliminate internal-combustion engines by 2028.
Stellantis is providing a glimpse of the road ahead with an electric crossover concept called the Chrysler Airflow being revealed Wednesday at CES in Las Vegas.
The company projects that the tech-laden crossover, which allows passengers to participate in video meetings and serves as an extension of their digital lifestyles, will have 350 to 400 miles of electric range. The Airflow has Level 3 autonomous capabilities through the STLA AutoDrive system, developed in partnership with BMW, that can be upgraded wirelessly.
The Airflow concept sets the stage for what consumers can expect from the Chrysler brand as it revamps in the Stellantis era.
“It’s definitely going in the direction that we want our future designs to represent,” Christine Feuell, the brand’s CEO, told Automotive News. “Something very sleek and dynamic, which is important. Battery-electric vehicles, in order to achieve your range targets, need to be aerodynamic. But we want to be able to do that in a very beautiful way, in an interesting way.”
Chrysler was given a lifeline when Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares said in May that brand CEOs would get 10 years to execute a business plan.
The brand has been trudging along with just two minivan nameplates — the Pacifica and fleet-focused Voyager — and the 300 sedan.
While the 300 has received few updates in recent years, the Pacifica has been a hub for innovation. It’s the only plug-in hybrid minivan on the market, and Waymo has been using it to test self-driving technology.
The forward-looking approach with the Pacifica will carry on with the next generation of Chrysler products.
