Fiat Chrysler Automobiles’ plans to move the next-generation Chrysler 300 sedan to the Alfa Romeo Giulia platform have reportedly been scrapped. However, rumor is that the Chrysler flagship may add a more fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine to the lineup and that, on the other end of the scale, the 707-hp supercharged 6.2-liter V-8 from the Dodge Challenger and Charger SRT Hellcats could show up in the 300 at the end of 2018.
According to Automotive News, the 300 will undergo an extensive refresh for the 2019 model year. The updated 300 will continue to use FCA’s aging LX platform as a base. The company, though, is expected to integrate additional weight-saving technologies to help fuel efficiency. Meanwhile, a rumored four-cylinder 300 would probably use the same turbocharged unit that is slated for the all-new 2018 Jeep Wrangler. (The LX-platform-based Dodge Charger and Challenger will also see the 2019 updates before being replaced in 2021, according to the report, with new models based on the Maserati Ghibli platform.)
An FCA spokesperson contradicted that report, telling Car and Driver that the company currently has no plans to produce a 300 variant featuring the Hellcat supercharged V-8. Still, we’ve been misled by FCA before, and we’ve even published spy photos of what looked like a 300 Hellcat test mule. We wouldn’t put money on Chrysler offering a 707-hp 300, but we can’t rule out the possibility. Remember, though, that the SRT version of the 300 still exists only for export markets and is not sold in North America.
Automotive News also reported that the Chrysler brand is expected to add a pair of crossover SUVs to its portfolio by the beginning of the next decade. The industry trade paper reported that a mid-size model based on the Jeep Cherokee platform will arrive for the 2019 model year and that a full-size crossover, due in 2021, will be based on the Pacifica minivan, which is itself due for a refresh in 2020. The larger crossover may revive the Aspen name, which was once used on a Dodge-brand K-car but more recently was the name of a full-size Chrysler SUV that shared its architecture with the Dodge Durango.
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