The Sun Sets on the PT Cruiser
MSNBC says Chrysler will build the PT Cruiser through 2009, After that, not. Originally planned as a Plymouth (remember them?), the PT was a big hit in its model year '01 debut. Flash forward seven years and sales are faltering in the face of competition from trendy CUVs and cute utes. As Volkswagen discovered when it brought back the Bug, it's hard to update a model defined by its styling. Chrysler's executive vice president of product development says his people are planning a new small crossover that will provide PT-like functionality. "It's a new market now," Frank Klegon opines. "We think the new vehicle that we're coming with behind it [the PT] will play the role with a different style." Oblivious to '50's film noir, Cerberus' minions will attempt to sustain PT sales to the bottom of the sales pool with the eleventh "special edition:" the Sunset Boulevard Edition. Perhaps they should have called it the "Sunset Edition" and let it go at that.
Comments
Join the conversation
Uh, wasn't "Sunset Boulevard" the movie about the has-been actress who was once admired but who clings to delusions of popularity? Is someone at Chrysler being funny here? Or sadly prescient?
I can see it now, the Norma Desmond Edition . . . .
According to that consumer magazine, the tired old PT Cruiser rates higher than the new Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass, which is disappointing considering how much older the PT Cruiser is. Chrysler had what? Six years to come up with a replacement and then when they bring it out it's a step backwards.
thetopdog, I drove the living hell out of a rental PT and gave it a good endurance run and didn't experience any of the problems you had. Next time your in one, give it good doses of full throttle blasts, attempt to lock the brakes up on stops, and also attempt burnouts on every take off and best of all, get the tires to howl when you take corners at full speed. That's the only way to get any good driving excitement out of a vehicle. I'm one of those jackanapes who speeds and peels out in my daily beater Ford Ranger. I'll admit it, I don't care.