DETROIT — During Chrysler's big-money years of the past decade, the blockbuster hits such as the 300, the new Ram pickup and the funky PT Cruiser drew people into showrooms by the thousands.

The cars were brash, the trucks were tough. They were stylish. And they were worlds different from anything that anyone else was selling. It's that same style that new owner Cerberus Capital Management hopes to revive to make its $7.4 billion purchase of Chrysler pay off.

Even though it is far leaner than it was when Daimler-Benz bought it nine years ago, some analysts wonder whether Chrysler has the allure, the cost structure and the size to compete on its own in a hyperactive global market against the likes of General Motors and Toyota.

Under Daimler's thumb, Chrysler shrank from 126,800 employees in 1998 to around 80,000 today, and it will get even smaller by 2009. Yet the company sold a staggering 373,000 fewer vehicles globally last year than it did the year of the merger. And unlike 1999 — the first year after the merger when it made $5 billion — Chrysler is losing a lot of money, reporting a $1.98 billion loss in the past quarter alone.

"It's less survivable as an independent company than it was nine years ago, in my view," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor.

Back when Daimler bought Chrysler in what then was billed as a "merger of equals," profits were rolling through the doors of the domestic automakers. Gas was cheap, the economy was booming and people were tooling around in minivans, Jeeps and big Dodge pickups and sport utility vehicles.

Fast-forward nine years to $3 per gallon gasoline and a much stronger presence from Honda Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Corp., and you get an environment that's far tougher on Chrysler and its U.S.-based counterparts, Ford Motor Co. and General Motors Corp.

"The real secret of the '90s was the dominance of the Big Three in light trucks, minivans, pickup trucks, SUVs. They just absolutely thrived," Cole said. "That's not going to happen again. A few companies can't dominate anymore. It's a different world."

Chrysler says it rolled out 10 new models in 2006 and four so far this year, with four more coming later in the year. It now has six vehicles, including some small SUVs, that get more than 30 miles per gallon, when a year ago it had only one.

The company points to Jeep as the harbinger of things to come. At a news conference Tuesday held to explain the Cerberus sale, Chrysler Chief Executive Tom LaSorda said that Jeep sales were up 10 percent so far this year from last.

"The Jeep Patriot and Compass (small SUVs) are helping us to grow the Jeep brand," LaSorda said. The four-door Jeep Wrangler also is selling well, and LaSorda also pointed to the Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger midsize models as strengths for the company.