Chrysler LLC has the reputation of going its own way when it comes to styling and design -- even to the point of being controversial. There was the Airflow designs of the 1930s, the Forward Look of the 1950s, the Fuselage look of the 1970s and the Cab Forward design in the 1990s.

But sooner or later -- even in the case of the then-disastrous Airflow -- the other car companies adopt some of the styling trends that Chrysler pioneered.

Now, as the company has new ownership -- Cerberus -- many in the industry wonder what may be on the horizon for the trend-setting company.

Joe Dehner, Chrysler's vice president of small/premium/family vehicle design, discussed the company's design history and future with the Post-Gazette.

Q: What would you describe as being the primary design hallmarks -- the automotive icons for each of your lines?

A: From the past for the Chrysler brand, the one that stands out as the quintessential Chrysler is the 1955 Chrysler 300C. For Jeep, the icon would obviously be the World War II Jeep. Every brand has a lot of models from the past that can be recalled, but that's especially true for Dodge. But I think the one that stands out for Dodge in my mind is the 1970 Charger. It embodies a lot of the personality of Dodge.

Q: Now that you've identified the styling icons, how do we see traces of them in the cars of today from Chrysler?

A: The Chrysler 300C embodies a lot of the style of the 1955 Chrysler 300C. You can see it in a modern way in the grille, and in the tailight design.

And the current Dodge Charger has some styling that's, albeit in four-door form, really equivalent to the 1970 Charger. And I would throw the Challenger in there for good measure -- it plays to the two door-theme, and it picks up where the Charger left off in 1970.

The old Jeep is easily seen in our new Wrangler, which, by the way, is selling better in the four-door version than the two-door version.

Q: Many of Chrysler's designs have been envelope-pushing to the point of controversial. Yet the styling is later picked up by competitors. Is that a strategy for Chrysler?

A: Frankly, I think that is one of the strong points, if not the strong point of our office here. We look at the world a little bit differently from everybody else. And, yeah, sometimes we fly the pirate flag. We're mavericks. We live on the edge, and we always want to look at things differently. That's a competitive advantage. When everybody else is doing vanilla designs, we want to stick our necks out.

Q: But what about the Chrysler Sebring? I know you've heard all the criticism of its styling. And it was envelope-pushing, too.

A: The Sebring has design tension. When we create designs, as a follow up we take them to research clinics for potential customers to see. And we look for design tension to emerge. It plays into our purchase consideration numbers for our cars. If you don't have design tension, you're not going to have very good numbers for purchase consideration (people who would think of buying the car) or reach, as we call it.

One of the elements on the Sebring was the strakes on the hood, which are like those seen on the Chrysler Crossfire. We found that 15 percent of those who liked the Sebring hated the strakes on the hood. That's design tension. We felt it was important to keep the strakes on the hood as a result. Right, wrong or indifferent, it played into the big picture of the styling statement we were trying to make.

Q: I've heard that as a result of all the controversy over the Sebring styling, it's being completely redone. Is that true?

A: I can't comment about future actions that we will take, but generally speaking, we're looking at opportunities regardless of where they lie. If it's customer-driven and they want changes or better materials and execution, we will be all over that.

Q: What kinds of trends -- styling or otherwise -- do you see coming in the next few years in the industry, and at Chrysler? What's in and what's out?

A: One thing's that for sure is that from here forward, everybody will have the theme of quality first, regardless of their market, segment or brand.

Another important trend -- storage space is extremely important. And the whole pressure to find as much storage space in cars as possible will only get bigger.

Also, I think that the outsides of cars may not get larger. If anything, they will be getting smaller. But interior space will have to continue to get larger. So we will make various components smaller, and watch the packaging of the component areas. One example is taking dead spaces in cars wherever they might be and turning them into storage opportunities.

Q: Do you have any examples of how all that might work?

A; The perfect example is our trio of three show cars that we unveiled. But the best example of the three is the ecoVoyager. It's exterior footprint is similar to that of the Dodge Journey or Chrysler Sebring. But because it uses an alternative powertrain, the interior is incredible. There's a nice flat floor that we were able to provide for, and we were also able to open up space under the instrument panel. It's incredible what you can do when you aren't styling around a traditional (gasoline engine) powertrain.

Q: What other trends do you foresee?

A: You're going to see a lot more B and C class (Mini Cooper and Honda Fit-size) premium cars. If people have a premium car, they might trade down to something smaller with the way gasoline prices are, and because we all need to be more efficient, as well as how we spend our money.

The Mini Cooper is a good example of the kind of car we mean. It may be a second vehicle, or even a third vehicle because of gas prices. But the customers will still demand a premium car inside and out.

Q: Which designs would you consider most highly successful both at your company and elsewhere? Which cars -- if any -- do you now look at and say "Gee, I wish we had done that one?"

A: The landscape is so populated now in the auto industry that everybody is rethinking what they are doing and they are designing cars that reinforce the brand, and build the brand up. Each brand is becoming more original.

Look at Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger. When we started working on them, we wanted no shared sheet metal on the exteriors or identical interiors. We specifically wanted these two brands to be totally different from each other. That same thinking went into the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans.

If we are to entertain having two different vehicles from us in the same market, you will see that same philosophy.

Q: The Chrysler 300 is arguably the most successful car design around in terms of sedans, at least. But it's time to revise that car. What are the dangers that you face in trying to redo what has been a winner for your company? Will the 300 still be recognizable as a 300 or is it moving in a different direction now?

A: There are several things we have to be cognizant of as we move ahead. The 300 will still have that premium statement. It will still have to have that long dash-to-tail relationship and Bentley-like design elements. Those are the things for the 300 that we have to be cognizant of. It needs to have that stately appearance, recognizable from a distance. The big grille is key to the 300 as are the vertical taillights. All this will be a big challenge as we go forward.

Q: What impact, if any, has the changeover in ownership to Cerberus had on design at Chrysler?

A: The sale really hasn't affected us on a day to day basis, but as a private company, what has been helped is the decision making process. You've probably heard of (Chief Executive Officer) Bob Nardelli's saying, "You'll get a quick yes or no and no slow maybes." We've had our challenges in the past getting a decision, and that's not the case now.