World Auto News & Reviews

After pleasing fans with the introduction of two 300 variants today in the 300S and 300 SRT8, Chrysler has topped them all – literally – with its most luxurious flagship sedan ever created.
The 300C Executive Series in intended to take luxury and comfort to an entirely new level, and aims to compete with true luxury brands, foreign and domestic.

As expected, Chrysler has covered the interior of the Executive Series with what it is calling “ultra-premium” leather, a fine enough grade it says it is typically found on high-end Italian luxury cars. Of course, if Rolls-Royce or Bentley have taught luxury automakers anything, it is that no sedan can truly be called luxurious without copious amounts of power, to which Chrysler has acknowledged the call with the 5.7-liter Hemi V8, good for 363 horsepower.

When Chrysler entered bankruptcy protection, its product lineup was decidedly barren. Team Pentastar has addressed that issue in the months since it sought government protection, and the fruits of all that labor have begun to pay off with the launch of 16 new and dramatically refreshed vehicles for 2011.

The Sebring convertible excelled at little other than being berated by the press and public alike.

Forget the Sebring, Chrysler tells us. The Chrysler 200 Convertible is here. Looking like a more sculpted and finessed Sebring, it offers way more underhood punch, increased refinement and a lot more value. But does it offer enough for us to discard our bad memories of its predecessor?

Nestled into a well-hidden crevice on the outskirts of the Chrysler booth at the Detroit Auto Show is a Mopar-accessorized 200 Super S. That’s right: a pimped 200. It would appear that Mopar noticed the 200 looks a bit… tall, so Team Pentastar’s aftermarket arm dropped the 200′s suspension a full three inches and outfitted it with a reworked lower chin and rear decklid spoilers. The 200 is further tweaked with a sublime quartet of glossy black 19-inch wheels, a pair of awkward hood vents, a mesh grille and foglamp bezels with light bar applique.

To say the new 300 sedan is an important model for the future of the Chrysler Group is an understatement. This was more than evident at the firm’s press conference at the Detroit motor show today.

The overhauled for the 2011 model year full-size sedan boasts new sheetmetal as well as a significantly improved interior and a modern 3.6-liter V6 engine with 292HP that joins the 363HP-strong 5.7-liter V8 Hemi. Last week, Chrysler announced pricing information for the 300, which starts at $27,995 for the entry-level V6 model and tops out at $41,145 for the V8 version with AWD .