It is a big American sedan made by an Italian-American company, assembled in Brampton, Ontario — and originally designed in the United States by an African-American.
Such are the twists and turns of “jobs for America.”
Americans might be able to keep those jobs as long as Americans are willing to buy those cars in the United States of America. That is neither promised nor guaranteed. Nor can it be ordered or demanded by this new U.S. presidential administration.
Take the 2017 Chrysler 300-C Platinum. Not many of them are sold worldwide, which is the arena in which most new automobiles have to compete. It would be assembled in America if doing so would make a profitable business case for the car. It doesn’t.
Italy-based Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, which now owns all of once all-American Chrysler, has to assemble the 300-C where it can do so at the lowest costs and sell it worldwide for the most money. Chrysler Corp., once all-American-owned, couldn’t do that and slid into bankruptcy. That is why it is now owned by Italy’s Fiat.
But let’s get to the real thing that controls “jobs for America,” especially in the automobile industry. It’s sales. That is why Honda, Toyota, Hyundai, Kia, BMW and Mercedes-Benz design and manufacture large volumes of their cars here instead of in their home countries. They do it because they are building and selling many cars many Americans want to buy.
Now, let us look at the 300-C, which was designed by the very talented Ralph Gilles in 2001 and went on sale in the United States in 2004. Gilles wanted a motorized urban renaissance, specifically a car that bespoke Detroit funk and European sophistication. He nailed it with the full-size, rear-wheel-drive 300-C, which was a hot number for a while.
Some 112,930 300-Cs were sold in the United States in its 2004 debut year. But sales fell to 53,241 in 2016. The second generation of the car was sold as the Fiat Lancia Thema in much of Europe in 2011 and remained as the American-badged Chrysler 300-C in U.S.-friendly nations, Britain and Ireland.
The car is sold today in the United States as the Chrysler 300 (base), 300-S, 300-C, and top-of-the-line 300-C Platinum.
It is a good car — luxurious, quiet on the road, comfortable, and equipped with all of the latest advanced electronic safety appointments. The six-cylinder 300-C Platinum is even relatively fuel-efficient at 30 miles per gallon on the highway and 19 miles per gallon in the city using regular-grade gasoline. But at a fully loaded price of $48,855, apparently as inexpensive as Fiat Chrysler could manufacture the car in Canada, it is not going to take sales from the equally nice and often less-expensive Hyundai and Kia cars made by Americans in the United States. Nor will it draw prestige-oriented buyers from expensive BMW and Mercedes-Benz models made in America.
The 300-C Platinum, equipped with the standard 3.6-liter V-6 for this column (292 horsepower, 260 pound-feet of torque), is a very nice car that, despite being made in Canada, references all things Detroit. It is just that Fiat Chrysler is not likely to sell enough of them in the United States to profitably justify building them here.
Nuts & Bolts
Bottom line: It is a very quiet, comfortable and safe sedan for families looking for “American-made,” or for what passes for that, anyway.
Ride, acceleration and handling: It gets good marks in all areas.
Head-turning quotient: It is a big, bold, wide-grilled sedan. Hail, Detroit! Albeit from Canada.
Body style/layout: The Chrysler 300 is a full-size, front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, four-door sedan with a traditional notch-back trunk.
Engine/transmission: It comes with a 3.6-liter, 24-valve gasoline V-6 with variable valve timing (292 horsepower, 260 pound-feet of torque). The engine is linked to an eight-speed automatic transmission. An optional and more expensive and fuel-consumptive eight-cylinder engine is available.
Capacities: Seating is for five people. Trunk capacity is 16.3 cubic feet. The fuel tank holds 18.5 gallons of regular-grade gasoline.
Mileage: I averaged 28 miles per gallon on the highway carrying light cargo.
Safety: Standard equipment includes ventilated front discs and solid rear disc brakes; four-wheel anti-lock brake protection; emergency braking; traction and stability control; side and head air bags.
A full suite of advanced electronic safety equipment is available as an option.
Pricing: The 2017 Chrysler 300-C Platinum has a base price of $42,770. The price as tested is $48,855, including $4,990 in options (mostly advanced electronic safety items and premium leather-covered seating) and a $1,095 factory-to-dealer shipment cost. You can bargain on this one.