Chrysler Axes the PT Cruiser

2009 Chrysler PT Dream Cruiser Series 5

PT Cruiser is seventh model since 2007 to be discontinued by Chrysler

By Alex Ricciuti
January 15, 2009 1:46 PM
Filed Under: American, Chrysler, Corporate/Financial, Industry

Chrysler has discontinued the PT Cruiser and is looking to sell the tooling for the model to another manufacturer, the automaker has confirmed.

Production on the PT Cruiser will end this summer, according to Chrysler President Tom LaSorda.

The PT Cruiser had been a success for Chrysler, becoming one of the main emblems of automotive retro-styling this decade and winning the 2001 North American Car of the Year award, with sales peaking that year at 144,717 units. Sales have been falling steadily ever since and were down to 50,910 units for 2008.

The PT Cruiser is the seventh model to get the axe at Chrysler since 2007 when Cerberus Capital Management took over Chrysler. Since then, the automaker has dropped the PT Cruiser convertible, the Durango, Pacifica and Aspen SUVs, the Dodge Magnum wagon and the Chrysler Crossfire.

The PT Cruiser is built at the Chrysler assembly plant in Toluca, Mexico. Chrysler has tried previously to sell off the PT Cruiser line. It is not known if Chrysler has any potential buyers.

Source: bloomberg.com

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Comments

Bremen_Koenigsegg

January 15, 2009 1:52 PM

Why is this only happening now?

MTC

January 15, 2009 2:10 PM

They should axe it before making it

mmr66

January 15, 2009 2:12 PM

none of you can imagine how pleased i am beacuse of this :-)

Jamie.Matthews

January 15, 2009 4:09 PM

well said, its always been an ugly piece of poop :)

Bristol411S3

January 15, 2009 2:28 PM

Seriously, who is going to want this?

sensei

January 25, 2009 7:15 AM

The Chinese will buy the tooling and build them there.

adz612

January 15, 2009 2:39 PM

Jeez, it's about time. I'm surprised it lasted this long.

4u2p

January 15, 2009 3:33 PM

This should have happened 3 or 4 years ago, and they should have found a better looking replacement because basically, this car is not a bad idea, only the design is clumsy. And the build quality, and the reliability, and the average consumption... Come to think of it, thank God they finally did that.

kimbo

January 15, 2009 4:25 PM

51.000 units in 2008. LOL 51.000 customers for this crap, this made me lol

politz

January 15, 2009 5:25 PM

Ugly as it is, it has worked for Chrysler.

rcw

January 15, 2009 6:26 PM

It already seems like this car was a thing of the past. I didn't realize they were even still making these.

benz_man

January 15, 2009 11:24 PM

Of coarse everyone hates it now; its been around for almost ten years! The vehicle wasn't that bad actually (to have Neon DNA), it just stayed around a little too long. To be honest, I thought this happened a year or two ago. Good riddance!

yourmomtakesit

February 18, 2009 7:06 PM

The PT was a well made vehicle made to appeal to those in the 25k-35k range of yearly salary. So now I guess we are stuck with the Dodge Neon, which is a much larger piece of crap then you all think of the PT as. Sadly based on the same platform, the PT had the advantage of a niche market. The Neon's niche is highschool kids who want to race cars.

yourmomtakesit

February 18, 2009 7:13 PM

Something else funny, Chrysler parent coporation of Dodge, is trying to sell it's Dodge Viper line of sports-car, as noted on bloomberg.com. Why? Because 90% of the American population CAN'T afford the Viper, when nearly 90% of all American populations CAN afford a PT Cruiser?

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