The End Of An Era With Two Icons

It’s time to say goodbye to two icons of the automotive industry. The Chrysler 300 and Honda e are completely different in every way, from how they look to who buys them. So what do they have in common? Both played important roles for the brands that created them.

This is how the small Honda from Japan and the large Chrysler from the United States changed the automobile industry.

Polar opposites

The Chrysler 300 is a large sedan powered by V6 or V8 engines, some of which turn a 198.6-inch boat into a muscle car. 300 bits borrowed from the Mercedes-Benz E-Class back when Daimler Chrysler was a thing. Once upon a time, it would have matched now-deceased competitors like the Chevrolet Impala, Ford Taurus, and Toyota Avalon, among others. But now he is the last player in that segment.

On the other hand, the Honda e is an electric B-segment hatchback designed for the taste of drivers in Japan and across Europe. Its rear design is reminiscent of small city cars but underneath is a modern electric powertrain. The Honda e was intended to be the brand’s first mass-market EV, though it didn’t quite work out that way.

Life Saver

The 300 gave Chrysler a global edge. In fact, the first generation 300 (available between 2004 and 2010) used many features of the Mercedes E-Class W211. The second generation debuted in 2011, although it was largely an update of the original.

Fiat’s takeover of Chrysler was an opportunity to expand the presence of the 300. In 2011, Lancia decided to bring back the 300 and sell it in Europe as Thema. The operation was a failure, with only 6,000 units sold between 2011 and 2014. About 1.4 million 300s were sold (including the aforementioned Themas) in nearly 20 years. The 300 was never a best-selling car overall, but it had an impact on the automotive world. . If nothing else, it was a lifesaver for Chrysler.

As Seen As Unpleasant

Meanwhile at Honda, the Honda e effect is not about sales volume. It’s about how a small hatch put electric Honda on the map. Although the EV’s specs weren’t impressive, the Honda e caught the public’s attention due to its sleek design. It also qualifies as the car that ushered Honda into the modern mainstream battery-electric market.

Little Honda never wanted to shake up the world of electric cars, however. It had a high price and a limited range – major shortcomings in the first phase of the electric age. The result is quite clear: Honda sold only 12,500 units of this small car between 2020 and November 2023, and the European volume accounts for more than 80 percent of the total. And yet, despite poor sales, it’s a car that won’t soon be forgotten.

The author of the article, Felipe Munoz, is an Automotive Industry Specialist at JATO Dynamics.