This sedan turns interesting to analyze when its context is taken into account. Fiat started to buy Chrysler around 2008 in order to save it from a deep financial crisis, so it began to invest at it. The North-American company cut slow-selling products, focused on the others and created a few new ones. The results were so good that when the Italians sank, some years later, their counterpart was already stable enough to be the responsible of keeping the whole group on its feet once again. Such efficient “companionship” is what was recently taken to the next level, when the joint-venture made its name official. Now we can refer to the Italian-American shebang as FCA Group, just like PSA, for instance, accounts for Peugeot and Citroën.
Going back to this article’s car, the new 200 came from one of FCA’s first long-term projects. Despite being on a critical situation, Chrysler needed to work on these because its lineup was getting too old, therefore still using concepts which wouldn’t satisfy the public’s new wishes. This is when Fiat appeared, lending a smaller but more efficient platform and helping the design to attract more people outside the U.S.. So after the badge-engineered batch, which includes Chrysler Delta, Fiat Freemont and Lancia Thema, the new Dodge Dart arrived as the North Americans’s first project under FCA. Today, Jeep already has a Fiat-influenced Cherokee, and now Chrysler starts to offer its mid-size line with Italian genes.
Besides, this is actually why these cars resemble each other. The North American side doesn’t want to forget its values, but to convert them into something capable of attracting the current customers – preferably, not only the native ones. 200 finally stopped being a 300-wannabe and got its own personality, basically. Sure, its silhouette still reminds of Dart’s and will probably do the same with Alfa Romeo’s upcoming sedan’s, but the only way you can mistake them is looking to their shadows. Chrysler’s sedan honors its mid-size nature and features a classier design. While the Dodge uses extravagant lights and shapes to look sporty, 200’s upscale feeling comes from fluid lines and smooth transitions between elements.
Speaking of which, the sedan is also the first appearance of the company’s new design language. Strong creases will be left for Dodge and big chromes for RAM, because Chrysler’s thing will include this headlights-to-grille front styling from now on. It also states that 200 was influenced by a lot of typical American style icons, such as what you’ll see in the cabin. The city of Sausalito inspired the black linen uphostery seen at LX and Limited, while the Fifth Avenue makes its conceptual appearance at the black upholstery with satin chrome accents which can equip those two and 200C. 200S, in turn, reminds of Detroit with a combination of black cloth and Ambassador blue leather. There’s also a Premium package with two-tone coating.
All of that gets even better because it’s applied to a room with amazing design. The chrome accents were kept to a minimum, there’s still a fair share of functions relying on physical controls (which are still more intuitive to use), and there are several interesting storage features: the cupholders have longitudinal sliding adjust, and since the car uses a rotary shift knob, there’s a pass-through space under it, which can be easily accessed by both front passengers. On the other hand, from the length increase of 8.4 inches, Chrysler only took 1.6 to the wheelbase. If there aren’t tricks like thinner backrests, the new 200 will offer about the same internal space as the outgoing car, which was smaller than its rivals’s already then.
200’s equipment list will offer the typical technology package, between standard and optional items. Under the hood, the Tigershark 2.4L four-cylinder will come as standard, bringing Fiat’s MultiAir 2 technology to reach 184 hp and 173 lb-ft. The other will be the Pentastar 3.6L V6, capable of 295 hp and 262 lb-ft. The sedan will always use ZF’s nine-speed automatic transmission, adding paddle shifters in 200C and 200S. Front-wheel-drive will also be standard (expected to make 35 mpg on the highway), but it’s possible to upgrade it with a variation of the AWD system used in the latest Cherokee: there are adaptive cruise control, Sport mode and the option of decoupling the rear axle when not required, in order to save fuel. The new 200 will start at US$ 22,695.