Chrysler's Five-Year Plan in Six Bullet Points

Chrysler delivered an epic press conference/Web cast Wednesday to detail its five-year plan, including coming products. Here is the essential information in six bullet points:

• First of all, that winged logo that Nick Kurczewski wrote about Tuesday will not replace the venerable Pentastar as a Chrysler corporate logo. It will be used, however, on all Chrysler-brand vehicles.

• There was some Fiat 500 news. While the release date is vague (probably late 2010), Chrysler said the minicar would be available at select Chrysler dealerships in key metropolitan markets throughout the country.

• The Dodge brand will sell three Fiat cars: a subcompact hatchback, compact sedan and midsize sedan. The compact and midsize cars will replace the slow-selling Dodge Caliber and Avenger, respectively. Chrysler also will add a large crossover in 2010.

• Production of the current Dodge Viper will end in July 2010, and the car will go out with a bang. Ralph Gilles, president and chief executive for the Dodge brand, said there were plans to produce a limited, 500-car run of special-edition Vipers. Meanwhile, an all-new sports car is in the works with a projected introduction date of 2012. Naturally the new car will be done in partnership with Fiat, which also owns Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and Maserati. So the death of the Viper could also herald the birth of a better sports car.

• Not much news from the Ram brand. Fred Diaz Jr., president and chief executive for the newly established brand, said Ram was considering a midsize truck to replace the Dakota pickup in 2011, but offered few details.

• Jeep will get three Fiat-based models in 2013, including a new version of the Liberty. The Patriot and Compass, which have sold poorly, will meet the chopping block in 2012.

Over all, Chrysler promised an improvement in quality across the board, reports The Times’s Nick Bunkley, who has been covering the press conference. “We get it — we’re not in denial,” said Doug Betts, Chrysler’s senior vice president for quality. “We’ve got an issue to deal with, both in terms of what people think about us and the reasons behind what they think.”