Dead Again: WSJ says PT Cruiser indeed short lived

Discussion in 'Station Wagon News From Around The Web' started by wagonmaster, Nov 18, 2007.

  1. wagonmaster

    wagonmaster Administrator Staff Member Moderator

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    Filed under: Wagons/Estates, Hatchbacks, Chrysler
    [​IMG]

    PT Cruiser fans who were relieved to hear only the convertible version would no longer be built may, after all, have reason to mourn. The Wall Street Journal, quoting a Chrysler dealership owner, says the retro-styled wagon-like CUV is again on the company's hit list.

    [​IMG]No word on why Chrysler brass changed their minds or when the final PT will be built, but if you want a new one, you should probably take advantage of the soon-to-be-announced rebates soon. So, is it just a coincidence that the final special edition PT Cruiser will be the Sunset Boulevard Edition?

    [Source: WSJ via All Cars All the Time]
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    wagonmaster, Nov 18, 2007
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  2. Stormin' Norman

    Stormin' Norman Well-Known Member

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    The new owners are brutal, cutting their popular car lines like that! They must be thinking they can move out a lot of design teams too.

    I still think the Big Three made bad strategic moves when the Asians invaded their markets in the mid-60's. Every major Asian car-maker owns its own Steel mills. Toyota, Mitsubishi, Kia, Nissan. They own their own plastic injection firms, and several other raw-material producers - Vertical Integration. Even Mercedes owns a big chunk of Kruppe Steel in Europe and Volkwagen does through their partnership with Bosch Siemens.

    The Asian car-makers get their scrap steel from North America, and the iron ore as well. And the big rub is they need North American or Chinese coal to make the steel. Yet they sell for less, and often make a better car. Sad to see the damage of stubborn inflexibility.
     
    Stormin' Norman, Nov 18, 2007
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  3. Roadking41A

    Roadking41A Well-Known Member

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    Who is the new owners?
     
    Roadking41A, Nov 18, 2007
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  4. Stormin' Norman

    Stormin' Norman Well-Known Member

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    Stormin' Norman, Nov 18, 2007
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  5. wagonmaster

    wagonmaster Administrator Staff Member Moderator

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    Cerberus' intention is to make Chrysler profitable at all costs in order to quickly sell the company.
     
    wagonmaster, Nov 18, 2007
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  6. That Hartford Guy

    That Hartford Guy Mopar no more.

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    The PT Cruiser was a big sales success selling well over a million of them.

    Sales are down now because the vehicle hasn't really been restyled. Many PT owners bought Chevy HHRs when they wore out their PTs.

    Every year MaMopar dragged her feet not knowing if they should retool for an all-new PT Cruiser in Retro style or a Toyota RAV4 type of replacement.

    PT owners wanted Retro. But RAV4 owners don't. So who do you make happy? Toyota owners will not run to buy a Chrysler product. But PT owners would certainly reject any bland looking RAV4 look-a-like replacement.

    So the solution was to do nothing. Just keep cranking out the PT in its current form until sales dropped off. A sad ending for a vehicle that set sales records and proved that a Retro styled show concept could go into production.
     
    That Hartford Guy, Nov 19, 2007
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