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DETROIT -- Chrysler Group today said it would name its redesigned mid-sized sedan the Chrysler 200 -- the vehicle that will replace the Sebring in its lineup.
The 200 is a re-engineered, restyled version of the current Sebring.
The company showed the renamed car and several other vehicles to its dealers today at a national meeting in Orlando and said the 200 will arrive in showrooms in the fourth quarter.
The 200 will be available with Chrysler's new Pentastar V-6 engine and a six-speed automatic or with Chrysler's 2.4-liter I-4 engine mated to a four- or six-speed automatic transaxle.
The 200 also will get a stiffer body, new suspension geometry, a new rear sway bar and improved noise, vibration and harshness treatment, the company said.
As with other new vehicles in the Chrysler fleet, the 200 also gets a new interior designed to address one of the most frequently criticized areas of the existing Sebring.
The 200 takes its name from an electric-powered concept car Chrysler showed at the 2009 Detroit auto show.
Vehicle has its ‘own identity'
The company said virtually every system in the new sedan is new or upgraded from the Sebring, “giving the Chrysler 200 its own identity and space in the highly competitive mid-size sedan segment.”
The 200 takes its name from an electric-powered concept car Chrysler showed at the 2009 Detroit auto show.
Before Chrysler introduced the current version of the Sebring in late 2006, some dealers had urged the company to use the 200 name to make people think of the car as the little brother of the successful 300. But Chrysler chose to carry over the Sebring name.
At the 2010 Detroit auto show, CEO Sergio Marchionne promised Chrysler would redo the Sebring much more comprehensively than a typical midcycle face-lift.
“Whatever the new Sebring will be called, it will not be called the Sebring,” Marchionne said at the time.
Chief designer Ralph Gilles said the Sebring and its sibling, the Dodge Avenger, were “on the operating table.”
No more cheap interiors
Also speaking at the Detroit show this year, Scott Kunselman, senior vice president of engineering, said the new versions of the sedans “would resolve the flaws perceived by the public today.” Those flaws include lack of refinement, cheap interiors, clumsy handling and uncompetitive powertrains.
Chrysler introduced the current version of the Sebring in 2006 as a 2007 model. Sales peaked in 2007 at 93,130 and dropped off rapidly after that. Chrysler sold just 27,460 Sebrings in 2009.
The 200 will be manufactured at Chrysler's assembly plant in Sterling Heights, Mich., near Detroit.
Chrysler Announces the Sebring Replacement
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