2011 Chrysler 300C Spied Testing

Following confirmation from top boss Sergio Marchionne that the 300C will survive wholesale model cuts at Chrysler, the next generation of the big sedan has been spied testing in the US this week.

Our new photos follow the brief images revealed in an official video presentation at the Detroit Auto Show earlier this year.

The video, which quickly flashed through Chrysler's plans for the future, offered the briefest glimpse of a curvaceous headlight and large chrome grille, previewing what can only be the new 300C.

Sporting a camouflaged front end and an otherwise unaltered appearance, a test car was spied in Detroit this week, and unlike the previous-generation mule spied last year, this car appears to be the complete and all-new 2011 model.

The spy photos - and the earlier reports of the 300C's reprieve - follow a single rendered image leaked early last year, created as part of Chrysler's long-term viability pitch to the US Government.

The rendering describes the car as arriving in 2010, but at this stage, it remains unclear whether we will see the new 300C this year or next.

The Hemi V8 is expected to remain, but with California's tight CAFE (Corporate Average Fuel Economy) laws likely to be adopted across the nation, smaller engined-models will probably make up the bulk of the 300C's sales.

A 5.7 litre Hemi V8 making 260kW and 528Nm of torque will top the Jeep Grand Cherokee range in the US, and this is the V8 the 300C range will likely top out with.

The 300C will likely also draw power from the new 3.6 litre Pentastar V6 petrol engine, developing 209kW and 352Nm of torque.