克莱斯勒组合拳打开新局面

紧凑车阵线仍是一片空白

    克莱斯勒近来虽然销量激增，但在市场容量巨大的紧凑车市场上却没有自己的一席之地。它的上一款紧凑车型克莱斯勒彩虹（Neon）早在2005年就停产了。现在克莱斯勒的所有紧凑车型都是跨界SUV，比如指南者、吉普爱国者、道奇酷博。这就相当于把一块巨大的市场蛋糕拱手让给了丰田（Toyota）卡罗拉、本田（Honda）思域、福特福克斯和雪佛兰（Chevrolet）克鲁兹等竞争对手。明年道奇将推出一款基于菲亚特平台的紧凑车型，以填补公司在这一领域的空白，预计此举将给克莱斯勒带来宝贵的销售增量。

    自从上世纪90年代的道奇欧米尼（Dodge Omni）和普利茅斯地平线（Plymouth Horizon）之后，克莱斯勒就再也没有推出过微型车了，从而又把这块市场彻底让给了本田飞度、福特嘉年华、现代（Hyundai）雅绅特和日产（Nissan）骐达。不过克莱斯勒已经承诺未来将填补这片空白——这也是提升公司销量的另一个机会。微型车的利润虽然比较单薄，但是只要能带来新顾客，经销商们还是会欢欣鼓舞，而且由此带来的额外销量也会进一步巩固克莱斯勒的地位。

Compact White Space

    Chrysler has surged despite having no entries in the high-volume compact car segment. The automaker's last compact, the Neon, called it quits in 2005, and today, all of Chrysler's current compact entries are crossover SUVs: Compass, Jeep Patriot, and Dodge Caliber. That leaves a huge chunk of the market to competitors like the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Ford Focus, and Chevrolet Cruze. Next year, the white space gets filled with a new Dodge based on a Fiat platform that will contribute valuable incremental sales.

    Chrysler hasn't produced a car for the subcompact segment since the Dodge Omni and Plymouth Horizon drove off to that big garage in the sky in 1990. That's ceded another chunk of the market to the likes of the Honda Fit, Ford Fiesta, Hyundai Accent and Nissan Versa. Chrysler promises to fill the void in the future -- another opportunity for additional sales. Profits will be scarce, but dealers will be happy to win new customers, and the additional volume will boost Chrysler's standing.