Chrysler is just about the last car brand that does not have an SUV in its range. Very special, especially since it is an American brand. We also find very few high-legged specimens in Chrysler’s history, but this Chrysler Aspen from 2007 is the exception.
Chrysler does not have SUVs, because it is part of a group that sells many SUVs under all kinds of other brand names. Jeep and Dodge are doing good business in the US, especially (Dodge) or exclusively (Jeep) with models that we can classify as SUV. Nevertheless, the choice of – then still – FCA is remarkable. A similar situation exists at Jaguar Land Rover, but it was decided that the SUV market is too large not to be served by Jaguar. Since then we have known the F-Pace and the E-Pace, models that the manufacturer simply offers next to similar Land Rovers.
If not at Chrysler, which in 2022 only has two models in the range anyway. In 2003 there was the first Pacifica, a somewhat SUV-like model that is also sometimes spotted in the Netherlands. However, this was a real intermediate form, so more of a crossover than an SUV. The only Chrysler that does fit in that category is the Aspen. Launched in 2006 as the luxury brother of the Dodge Durango, that car was a classic ‘rebadge’ that differed from its Dodge brother only in its grille, headlights, bumpers and some other details. The Aspen was certainly not a success and after only three years Chrysler pulled the plug from the production line for good.
We sometimes encounter the Dodge Durango of this generation in the Netherlands, but that certainly does not apply to the much rarer Aspen. We encountered this specimen at full gallop, on the A4. The car looks neat and came to the Netherlands in 2008, no doubt as removal items. Since then, he has changed private ownership once through a car dealership. The current one has been faithful to the curious Chrysler since 2009. He or she invested a lot of mrb in it over the years, because this device just weighs 2,154 kg.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl