Chrysler used to mean cheap, fun cars. Now it sells only minivans.
The parent company, Stellantis, wants to fix that. It just pitched dealers on a sub-$30,000 compact car called the Pronto. The rumored start price is in the $20,000s.
Walk into a Chrysler dealer today. Your only real picks are the Pacifica and the Voyager. Both are family minivans.
That's a steep fall for a brand that once sold the 300 sedan, the PT Cruiser, and the 200. Those cars gave Chrysler a real spot in the U.S. market.
Stellantis says it's done with the minivan-only plan. The company laid out its turnaround at an investor day in Auburn Hills this week. The plan covers Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram. Several new models will start under $40,000.
The Pronto is the cheapest of the bunch. Stellantis showed it to dealers in private. The price could land below $30,000.
That would be a first for Chrysler in years. The brand hasn't sold a car that cheap since it killed the 200 sedan.
For some context: the average new car in the U.S. now sells for over $49,000, per Kelley Blue Book. A $20,000 Chrysler would slot into a price point most other car brands have left behind.
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The old Chrysler plan was simple. Go all-electric by 2028. The new plan flips that.
The company now wants gas, hybrid, and electric versions of its cars. All will sit on Stellantis' new STLA multi-energy frame, which can hold any kind of motor.
The next two years bring a fresh Pacifica, two new crossovers, a sedan that may revive the 300 name, the Pronto compact, and the return of SRT cars. SRT is the muscle badge that built cars like the 300C SRT8 - a sedan with V8 power and a deep growl.
Stellantis still has the V8s and turbo-six engines on the shelf. That makes the SRT relaunch easier to pull off.
The cheapest new car in America right now sells for around $20,000. The supply is thin. If the Pronto lands at that price, Chrysler stops being a one-product brand and starts to fight for buyers it hasn't seen in a decade.
The harder part is making money at that price. Stellantis stock (ticker: STLA) has been one of the worst legacy car stocks this year. The turnaround plan needs to ship real product to fix that. The first new Chryslers should hit dealers in 2026.
Stellantis CEO Antonio Filosa is also under pressure. Sales of Jeep and Ram - the firm's two biggest U.S. brands - have been slipping for months. The Chrysler bet has to work alongside those fixes.
For investors, the read is simple. Stellantis owns 14 car brands. If it can pull off a real Chrysler revival on a tight budget, the same playbook could spread to the rest of the lineup. The first test ships this year.
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