WHEN the Chrysler 300C touched down in Australia a decade ago, it was an instant revelation. Big, brash and loaded with attitude, the fact that it was mostly old-school Mercedes E-Class underneath didn’t sway buyers, who flocked to buy the new kid on the block.

Ten years later, and the 300 (the ‘C’ was dropped from the model name when the second-gen version launched in 2012) is still turning heads and changing perceptions… though not quite as many as it used to.

Fighting a lone vanguard in a brand of two – though counting the single digit-selling Voyager as a ‘stablemate’ is a stretch – the 300 is managing to outsell the BMW 5 Series so far in 2015, but its totals are about half of what it was selling in the mid-to-late 00s.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Australia tell us that they’ll be hanging onto the Chrysler brand until 2018 and likely beyond, which puts the 300 back in the box seat to pick up a bit of sales traffic from the demise of the Holden Commodore/Caprice and Ford Falcon.

The company isn’t looking at it that way, though, preferring to see themselves as bridging the gap between the affordable Aussies and the aspirational Euros like the 5 Series, Jag’s XF and the Benz E-Class.

While the exterior is still as American as mom’s blueberry pie, Chrysler has brought a few high-tech tricks to the table for the big 300 to see it through for a few years yet.

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