The current state of Chrysler: 10 questions with CEO Chris Fuell

In case you missed it, Chrysler is still a happening item. The V8-powered 300C was a hit when it was revealed last year, selling out in mere hours. The Pacifica minivan is a rocking family bus, and there are some concepts floating around, too. That said, it’s been a minute since we sat down with Chrysler to see what’s new.

CEO Christine Fuell — known as Chris — has been on the job since 2021. To get a sense of where she thinks the company is now and where it’s headed, we sat down with Fuell at last week's Chicago Auto Show for a one-on-one chat. From jokes about a Pacifica Hellcat to where Chrysler stands on controversial post-purchase subscription services, we take a look at what Fuell and Chrysler are up to.

Read on below for the Q&A.

Autoblog: What’s the future for the Pacifica name plate?

Fuell: Pacifica's the hero of the brand, and as we look toward the future, we want to make sure that Chrysler is known not just as a minivan brand, but a brand that makes minivans. We created the segment nearly 40 years ago.

Autoblog: Is more electrification a path that you see for a minivan in the future?

Fuell: It certainly is a natural progression … migrating to full electrification in the minivan is just kind of the natural next step. We made a commitment to fully electrify the portfolio by 2028, and so, every new product that we launch between now and then will be exclusively a battery electric propulsion system.

Autoblog: Everybody likes to joke about the Pacifica Hellcat, but with electrification … ?

Fuell: You can put some interesting tuning experiences in a minivan. Not saying that we would, but it’s possible.

Autoblog: Concerning the Chrysler 300C that sold out instantly, does it give you any pause in that journey to electric in seeing how rabid people are about this really cool V8 sedan?

Fuell: In terms of the popularity of a V8, when you're going down this path of clean mobility, it can create a bit of a dichotomy in terms of what the brand really stands for. But at the end of the day, the 300 was a very important product to the brand when it launched in 2005. It set a tremendous trend for not only design but attracted a lot of new customers to the brand that we hadn't seen before and, so we wanted to send it off in a real respectful celebration.

One of the things that's really important about brand strategy is once you set a path and a course, you have to be crystal clear and you have to be focused and committed to staying on that course, so there's no looking back. We're not second guessing the direction that we're going in.