Some may think Chrysler's campaign "America's import" sounds pretty cool.
Don't count auto critic Mark Phelan of the Detroit Free Press among them. He writes:
The phrase "America's import," with its suggestion that "import" equals "better," feels terribly dated, a relic of the 1980s. It's the rhetorical equivalent of hanging a pastel-hued "Miami Vice" poster on your office wall.
The Detroit Three were on their knees then, devastated by global economic upheaval. Between oil leaks and transmission failures, they struggled for years to build even marginally reliable vehicles. Any of the Detroit Three would have benefited from confusion with any foreign brand.
That was then. This is now. From Corvettes to Cadillacs, from the Ford Fusion to F-150, they build plenty of world-class vehicles.
He also notes that some of Chrysler's cars aren't even made in the U.S.
Still, it takes an impressive lack of self-awareness for Chrysler to boast of being "America's import" when two of the brand's three vehicles — the 300 and Town & Country minivan — are built in Canada, and Chrysler is part of a multinational company based in the Netherlands that keeps a U.K. address to avoid paying U.S. taxes. A cynic might argue the inaccurate word is "America's," not "import."
