Say goodbye to the PT Cruiser...
01-18-09, 05:19 PM
#1
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Say goodbye to the PT Cruiser...
http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/to...t-cruiser.aspx
Good Riddance.
I don't see Chrysler making it. Which is unfortunate because it will have damaging affects (initially) on GM and Ford which are making great strides.
Say goodbye to the PT Cruiser
Posted Jan 16 2009, 10:38 AM by Kim Peterson
Chrysler is killing one of the most iconic and pioneering cars on the road. The company will stop building the PT Cruiser this summer, president Tom LaSorda said this week.
The Cruiser follows six other models to the Chrysler graveyard, all gone since Cerberus Capital bought the company in 2007. Now, all Chrysler has left are the Town & Country minivan and the Sebring and 300C sedans, according to Bloomberg.
I'll miss the PT Cruiser, but I can see the reasoning behind the move. After nabbing an enormous amount of buzz in its 2000 debut, Cruiser sales dropped nearly 50% last year to just 51,000 units in the U.S. One dealership gave them away like they were ballpoint pens. (Click here for more on the PT Cruiser from MSN Autos).
So what next for Chrysler? The company is bleeding cash and just got a $1.5 billion government loan to keep operating. That's in addition to a $4 billion loan it's already received. As BusinessWeek notes, Chrysler doesn't have a broad product line, strong brands, robust technology or international sales -- at least not enough to survive on its own.
It's pretty clear that the company must be sold, or at least parts of it. And Jeep is probably the best asset to sell, but that would turn the company into a shell of its former self, with just the Dodge and Chrysler brands keeping it afloat.
LaSorda insists Chrysler won't sell any of its brands, and he'll probably keep saying that up until the company announces that it's found a buyer. He wouldn't mind selling the PT Cruiser, he says, but no one wants to buy it.
BloggingStocks thinks that LaSorda's stubborness could "be a major cog in the downfall of Chrysler." And right now, it's hard to see where his intransigency pays off.
Chrysler's assembly plants are shut down because dealers have too many cars as it is. Revenue has dried up. But the company has to show by March 31 that it can survive on its own, or it loses the chance at more federal aid.
Chrysler is backed into a corner, one that it won't get out of easily without some drastic moves. The PT Cruiser won't be the last victim here.
Posted Jan 16 2009, 10:38 AM by Kim Peterson
Chrysler is killing one of the most iconic and pioneering cars on the road. The company will stop building the PT Cruiser this summer, president Tom LaSorda said this week.
The Cruiser follows six other models to the Chrysler graveyard, all gone since Cerberus Capital bought the company in 2007. Now, all Chrysler has left are the Town & Country minivan and the Sebring and 300C sedans, according to Bloomberg.
I'll miss the PT Cruiser, but I can see the reasoning behind the move. After nabbing an enormous amount of buzz in its 2000 debut, Cruiser sales dropped nearly 50% last year to just 51,000 units in the U.S. One dealership gave them away like they were ballpoint pens. (Click here for more on the PT Cruiser from MSN Autos).
So what next for Chrysler? The company is bleeding cash and just got a $1.5 billion government loan to keep operating. That's in addition to a $4 billion loan it's already received. As BusinessWeek notes, Chrysler doesn't have a broad product line, strong brands, robust technology or international sales -- at least not enough to survive on its own.
It's pretty clear that the company must be sold, or at least parts of it. And Jeep is probably the best asset to sell, but that would turn the company into a shell of its former self, with just the Dodge and Chrysler brands keeping it afloat.
LaSorda insists Chrysler won't sell any of its brands, and he'll probably keep saying that up until the company announces that it's found a buyer. He wouldn't mind selling the PT Cruiser, he says, but no one wants to buy it.
BloggingStocks thinks that LaSorda's stubborness could "be a major cog in the downfall of Chrysler." And right now, it's hard to see where his intransigency pays off.
Chrysler's assembly plants are shut down because dealers have too many cars as it is. Revenue has dried up. But the company has to show by March 31 that it can survive on its own, or it loses the chance at more federal aid.
Chrysler is backed into a corner, one that it won't get out of easily without some drastic moves. The PT Cruiser won't be the last victim here.
I don't see Chrysler making it. Which is unfortunate because it will have damaging affects (initially) on GM and Ford which are making great strides.
01-18-09, 06:46 PM
#7
Lexus Champion
When it first came out in 2000 (I think) there were waiting lists for the car and they were selling at well above MSRP with dealer markup. Just like the new Beetle, Solstice, Sky etc. Dealers made some good money on them, but it never lasts.
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01-19-09, 12:29 AM
#13
Lexus Fanatic
bye bye..... good riddens. I remeber reading a letter in a magzine from an angry reader who was oissed that he didnt see more PT cruisers in tuner magazines. He claimed that his was the turbo and it killed civics and such. He forgets that he is driving a car that looks like it belongs to a female school teacher.
01-19-09, 03:54 AM
#14
Lexus Fanatic
01-19-09, 03:59 AM
#15
Lexus Fanatic
Once again, we're back to this "image" stuff.......most of which is nonsense.
If HE likes the car, and HE likes the styling, and the car fits HIS needs, that's all that matters. If other people think it belongs to schoolmarm, that's their problem, not his.