What if Plymouth had never existed?
filed in Misc Car Questions
Question: I was just thinking about what would have happened if Plymouth had never existed? what would have happened if Walter Chryaler had marketed his lower-priced cars as Chryslers? This will hopefully be a good What Would Have Been post.
1. Imperial would have been a separate division starting in the 1920’s. This would have given Cadillac, Lincoln, and Packard a run for their money since Chrysler would have been the high volume automaker. Dodge and DeSoto would have been the same. Desoto would have been the company’s sporty near-luxury division while Dodge would be the performance division
2. The Chrysler division would have beaten the Ford division a few times in overall sales, especially in the late 30’s and 40’s.
3. Chryslers would have been sold in DeSoto and Imperial dealerships plus Dodge dealerships until 1960. Dodge would have introduced the Dart.
4. Over its history, Chrysler would sell cars like the Plaza, Savoy, Belvedere, Fury, Cambridge, Cranbrook, Concord, and Windsor.
5. The Falcon and Firearrow showcars would have been produced under the DeSoto name from 1956 until 1963.
6. Valiant would have been under the Chrysler name, along with Barracuda, Duster, Volare, Reliant, Saratoga (the export A body name, Scamp, and Horizon
7. Desoto would sell the Satellite and GTX, Dodge the Charger and Super Bee, and Chrysler the Road Runner and Sport Fury.
8. Imperial would introduce a small luxury compact named the Cordoba in 1973. The LeBaron would follow in 1977 since the larger Imperials would be named Southamptons and La Jollas. Imperial would also produce a wagon named the Kennebunkport while Chrysler would have the Town and COuntry.
9. DeSoto would merge with Jeep when Chrysler buys AMC and change the Adventurer and Fireflite to Matador and Ambassador. No Eagle brand would exist.
10. The Chrysler LAser would be based on the Mitsubishi Eclipse.
11. The Mitsubishi imports would be marketed under the Chrysler and Dodge brands.
12. Imperial would produce a luzury sport-ute in the 1990s.
Answer: They would have been DeSotos or Dodges before Chryslers. Chrysler never could get DeSoto and Dodge positioned properly (reversing their order at one time), so one of them could have easily been the low-priced brand.
Imperial *WAS* a separate division at least twice during its existence. Only us post-60s youth really think of an Imperial as a gussied-up Chrysler. Prior to then, and Imperial was… well… and IMPERIAL. 
Which would have demeaned the Chrysler brand, frankly. As it was, Plymouth was repeatedly #2 in total sales, beating either Phord or Cheevy (I forget which). Again, a *bad* thing for the Chrysler brand, which needed to remain above the fray and competitive with Buick and Oldsmobile, letting Dodge and Plymouth do battle with Pontiac and Chevrolet and Imperial to go against Lincoln and Cattlehack. Valiant was introduced, like Imperial, as a separate brand. It was, I think, 2 model years before it became a “Plymouth Valiant” rather than a “Valiant by Chrysler.” One word: Blasphemy! Thats as evil a thought as the fact that the current Sebring is sold as a Chrysler when God and everyone knows that a Sebring is a Plymouth. Actually, one would HOPE that the unholy unclean abominable involvement with Mitsub*shi would NEVER HAVE HAPPENED AT ALL.
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