Chrysler To Dump Three Slow-Sellers
Pacifica, PT Cruiser, Magnum expected to get axed as automaker realigns product lineup.
The board of Chrysler LLC is expected to decide today to kill at least three slow-selling models as part of a sweeping strategic realignment of the newly private automaker.
People close to Chrysler said the board, in its initial meeting under new Chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli, likely will approve plans to discontinue the Chrysler Pacifica crossover, the Dodge Magnum wagon and the
PT Cruiser hatchback.
Scaling back products is expected to be the first of several major initiatives at Chrysler as it takes shape under the ownership of private-equity giant Cerberus Capital Management LP.
A Chrysler spokesman declined Monday to confirm the board meeting or its agenda.
But people familiar with the situation said that after three months on the job, Nardelli is ready to put his stamp on Chrysler to make it leaner, quicker and more disciplined.
Nardelli said Monday that Chrysler is now "laser-focused" and committed to making decisions "with a bias toward speed."
"It's either a yes or a no, but not a slow maybe," he said during a question-and-answer session at the American Magazine Conference in Boca Raton, Fla.
Since Cerberus bought Chrysler in August, Nardelli and his top executives have been poring over the product portfolio with an eye toward cutting underperforming or overlapping models.
That effort has accelerated since Chrysler hired veteran Toyota Motor Corp. executive James Press last month as its vice chairman and chief product strategist.
The first models to feel the ax will be the Pacifica, Magnum and
PT Cruiser, according to people familiar with the situation.
Sales of all three vehicles have tumbled sharply this year. While Chrysler's overall U.S. sales were down 3 percent through September, Pacifica sales have fallen by 30 percent, Magnum by 32 percent, and the PT Cruiser by 27 percent.
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Chrysler to dump three slow-sellers
Source: Detnews.com