Chrysler exhibits off 300 successor to sellers – report

The venerable Chrysler 300 will soon exit production, but a replacement appears to be in the works.

Mopar Insiders reports a 300 successor was previewed to dealers at a meeting in Las Vegas last month, and it resembled a vehicle depicted in wireframe back in 2021.

Instead of the blocky styling of the outgoing 300, the new vehicle features a sleeker five-door liftback body style. The replacements for the current Dodge Charger and Challenger will also reportedly offer this body format, alongside a two-door coupe.

Like the next-generation Dodges, the 300 replacement is expected to use the STLA Large architecture.

These underpinnings will support electric motors producing between 125kW and 330kW, creating the tantalising possibility of dual-motor 660kW all-wheel drive powertrains.

STLA Large vehicles will also be able to support battery capacities from 101-118 kWh, facilitating a maximum range of up to 800km.

This platform will also support combustion engines like the new Hurricane inline-six family, though no STLA Large vehicles thus far have been confirmed to use these engines.

The brand plans to go electric-only by 2027, and is set to receive new product in the shape of a production version of the Airflow crossover concept, which will reportedly launch in 2024 as a 2025 model.

Chrysler claims the concept has between 560km and 645km of range.

After a few decades of being a near full-line brand, Chrysler now sells just two models. One of these is the 300, set to exit production by 2024, while the other is the Pacifica people mover.

Its global footprint has shrunk, with Chrysler having departed Europe and exiting Australia last year. And with a smaller line-up, US sales have plunged from almost 650,000 vehicles in 2005 to just 112,713 in 2022.

Bizarrely, Chrysler has resisted the global trend towards SUVs. It has only ever offered two: the 2004-08 Pacifica crossover, and the short-lived body-on-frame 2007-09 Aspen.

While the sleek styling of the 300 successor is a dramatic change from the stately 2005-10 and 2011-present generations of 300, the Chrysler brand is no stranger to sleek large sedans.

The 2005 300 was the replacement for the rakish front-wheel drive 300M, which was also sold alongside the curvaceous Concorde and LHS.

Chrysler also offered the mid-sized Cirrus sedan, later replaced by the Sebring (sold here from 2007 to 2009) and then the 200.