Who Wants to Buy A PT Cruiser? How About the Tooling, Then?
Chrysler will stop building PT Cruisers this summer. OK, they’re not actually building anything until next month, and maybe not even then, but you know what I mean. Displaying the link between stress, huge salary, government begging and multiple personality disorder, ChryCo Co-Prez Tom LaSorda got on the blower with Bloomberg to acknowledge that the entire PT model is for sale. “Would we sell those assets? Yes. Do we have any offers to sell those assets? No. Would we be pursuing a buyer? Yes.” In China? Yes. Would they buy it? No. Despite the idea that China wants our cast-offs, they’re way beyond that point. And make no mistake, the PT has gone all the way from hero to zero. “U.S. sales of the PT Cruiser plunged 49 percent last year to 50,910 units, outpacing Chrysler’s 30 percent slide and the 18 percent tumble in the domestic auto market. Deliveries peaked at 144,717 in 2001, according to Autodata Corp. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.” For those who lament the death (dearth?) of American automotive production, remember that the PT is hecho en Mexico. Still sucks for them, obviously.
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How about we take the tooling at fair value against the loans from the US government, and donate it to the Palestinians. Then they can build the cars in Gaza. Maybe that will give them something to do other than take cash from other muslims for harrassing the Israelis. I doubt most palestinians presently have anything nearly as nice or safe as a PT cruiser. Hell, maybe the Israelis will buy them just to keep them busy as well.
Maybe the Mexican drug cartel will buy the plant, and stuff the PT's with cocaine and mary jane (if they don't already). psarhjinian : It could be, say, a Kia Rondo with style? For my last drive to Wisconsin for work, the Enterprise-supplied Sebring cruise control was broken, and it developed a loose ball joint which prompted me to trade it out for a PT at Mitchell Airport. I drove the PT around Waukesha for a couple of days, and found that it's only saving grace was its high seating position and lack of a knee-crushing center console (that the Sebring had). I found out on the day I had to drive back to PA that the cruise control in the PT didn't work either, so I traded the PT (I insisted on NO CHRYSLERS) for a Kia Rondo. The Kia got the same mileage with its "gas-hog" 2.7 V6 than the PT with the 2.4, and I didn't have to fold the second row seat down (as in the PT) to stow my gear. The Kia DID have a "knee crusher" center console, but the cruise control worked.
PeteMoran The decision was made for me. After pouring two decades of pouring heart and soul into automotive, the bomb bay doors were opened on thousands of us. After months of searching, the only industry that saw my skills as transferable was construction, specifically structural steel. Civil guys are a different breed, but I'm flexable and adapting. I'm lucky, a lot of other guys (and gals) are temp's stocking shelves at Home Depot on 3rd shift (or worse). Thanks for asking.
Justin Berkowitz: You can take the "B" out, too. All major manufacturers here are foreign and have a "fine" tradition of taking on their own in-house old tools and "re-tooling" them to make "fine" brand-new old cars (Fiat Tipo and Palio, VW Gol, GM Corsa and Celta, Ford Ka among others in a never ending list). The "national" car makers are too small and only make special hand-made "knock-offs" (Chamonix makes an interesting Posche 356 replica, and Troller, recently bought by Ford, why? why?, makes a back to basics old-style, eeringly-similar-to-an-old-Jeep jeep) or "sports" cars like Lobini. These cars usually cost a fortune and are the playthings of financially well-endowed people, except for the above mentioned Troller whose jeep finds favor among the off-road crowd. So, no sale for Chrysler here.