Often, when creating a brand new car, the clash between designers and engineers ends with a compromise, which can presumably make or break the appearance and its ergonomics.
That’s what apparently happened with the Chrysler 200, a car which during its development process “borrowed” a faulty design idea from a rival product.
As a matter of fact, speaking to Automotive News at the Detroit Motor Show, Sergio Marchionne blamed the car’s sloped roof (which cramps the entry portal to the rear seats) as the reason why the mid-size sedan hadn’t secured the admiration of Consumer Reports:
“The 200 failed because somebody thought that the rear-seat entry point inside the 200 – which is our fault, by the way – is not up to snuff."
To make matters even worse, Marchionne went on saying that Chrysler isn’t the only one facing with this “problem”, as Hyundai has the same issue with one of its models. However, that’s because Hyundai’s product and its inclined roof served as inspiration for the 200:
_
"The Hyundai which we copied [presumably the Sonata] has the same problem. We didn't copy the car, we copied the entry point to the rear seat. Dummies. I acknowledge it. Some people from design left some of their private parts on the table after we came up with that determination. However, I think we're learning from this process."_