Fresh Chrysler 300 SRTs on the way

A small supply of the ground-shaking Chrysler 300 SRT sports sedan will arrive in Australia in time for Christmas.

The SRTs are part of a batch of less than 100 vehicles, also including some V6-powered 300C sedans, that are currently in production in the USA.

The big rear-wheel drive American sedan is one of just five affordable (sub-$100,000) V8 models still available in Australia following the imminent axing of the Jeep Grand Cherokee V8, leaving just the Ford Mustang GT muscle car, the Toyota LandCruiser 70 Series workhorse, the Nissan Patrol large SUV and the old DS-series RAM 1500 pick-up.

While that’s good news for lovers of accessible V8 sports sedans personified for decades in Australia by the Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon, the arrival of the small 300 shipment does little to ease question marks over the future of the 300 SRT and the Chrysler brand itself Down Under.

As we reported in July, Chrysler’s future looks bleak in Australia, where the local division of the Stellantis conglomerate focuses on Jeep and RAM.

While Stellantis’ global boss Carlos Tavares has described Chrysler as a “pillar” of the car-making group, its future product plans have been noticeably absent among a welter of recent announcements.

The one bright spot has been an unnamed Chrysler concept showing up during the recent Stellantis EV Day presentation .

Speaking at a media briefing for the refreshed MY21 Jeep Compass, Stellantis Australia boss Kevin Flynn confirmed the 300 shipment, but was also unable to clarify the brand’s future.

“We have got one model in-market currently, which as you know is the Chrysler 300. We are still bringing those in at the moment,” he said.

“It’s obviously on very small numbers.

“We will work with the broader corporation to understand what happens from here.

“That’s really all I can give you at this moment in time, but at the moment we are still bringing in that vehicle, but the numbers have dropped and the production availability has also been difficult for us.”

Follow-up questions to Stellantis resulted in this emailed statement:

“We currently have a limited supply of Chrysler 300 and Chrysler 300 SRTs in production. The vehicles are expected to arrive by the end of the year and will be available for purchase at Chrysler Dealerships.”

That suggests the entire supply will be for private sale and none for police duty, as has been the case in the recent past.

The NSW Police Force continues to employ the 300 SRT for highway patrol duties, following the demise of homegrown V8 pursuit cars. What’s believed to be Australia’s final Ford Falcon patrol car goes to auction tonight.

Powered by a 6.4-litre Hemi V8, the Chrysler 300 SRT retails for $77,450 plus on-road costs. The 3.6-litre V6 300 Luxury is $59,950 plus ORCs.

To the end of July 2021 Chrysler had sold 97 examples of the 300 V6 and V8 – down from 159 in the same period last year.

According to the authoritative US publication Automotive News, Chrysler 300 production will continue until 2023. It did not clarify if that included right-hand drive.