Some of those vehicles just needed to go from the start
The tough part is figuring out what will be a hit. It's easy after the fact to say a car sucks and then axe it. But axing a car with no viable replacement means you lose sales and you basically admit to all the buyers who did get your car that they got a turd.
Bot Lutz said numerous times that if he were still at Chrysler that he would have axed the 300C, Magnum, and Charger. They were too progressive and too risky to build. Hence why they'd go with a Pontiac GTO or a Grand Prix GXP. They're "cheaper" in the sense that they took an existing formula and just tried to spoon feed it to Joe-Public. The GTO was a half-hearted attempt but the risk/reward was much lower. So the conservative idea backfires GTO and the Grand Prix is just a fast FWD sedan with no character which will soon be phased out.
I guess now being risky is in. Now Lutz is fine with the current GMC Arcadia/Saturn Outlook/Buick Enclave. The Auto Industry keeps saying how great these large GM SUVs are. Who knows what will happen in 12 months when the sales of the Enclave start to sag because the market for an expensive Buick is pretty small. Going with the risky idea can also result in immediate failures like the Isuzu Vehicross ... I think they sold 10 of them. Or maybe you'll have a second coming of the Pontiac "Axe"tec. This type of result gets people fired.
Imagine a scenario if the the 300C and the Magnum were both perceived as an old-person car or a hearse... and they could only sell 2,000 units a month. This whole RWD program would have cost billions. And you wouldn't have a shot in hell of a Challenger.
Also, when the Charger was announced as a 4-door sedan and almost everybody in the auto biz said it'd be a bad idea and that the Charger would lose loyal Dodge customers while alienating everyone else with a crazy design. auto-pundits gave the Magnum a greater chance of success than the charger. You can see how accurate those pundits are.
I think taking the risk on cars like the Nitro and Commander were just mis-timed. If the Commander had come out before the Escallade Fad wore thin they'd be talking about how great the commander is. I hope Nardelli doesn't stifle the notion that being "out there" is a bad idea. Of course when your company is on the ropes, being out there can put you out of a job.
