No more PT Cruisers in 2 years?

[PTskilla]

I read this on another site:

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Chrysler Group crossovers coded JC49 (Dodge) and JZ49 (Chrysler) are set to be produced starting in December 2007, with large-scale exports to Europe starting in 2010. The JZ49 might be named PT Cruiser but would not be recognizable to current owners; Chrysler reps have repeatedly said that they cannot evolve the PT’s styling and have no interest in doing so. The Toluca plant is set for a $1 billion upgrade to allow production of the new crossover alongside the PT Cruiser; it built 177,370 PT Cruisers in 2005, not bad for a “fad car” in its fifth year (2007 will be the seventh year, including 2001). We have been told that the name of the Dodge version will the Dodge Crew, while the Chrysler will indeed take over from the PT Cruiser, albeit having nothing in common with the current model. DCX reportedly plans to stop the current-model PT Cruiser production in 2009, using the line to export 60,000 D-segment crossover vehicles to Northern Europe. Some of Chrysler's plans may hinge upon the February restructuring plan of slash-and-burn man Rainer Schmückle.

Though the next generation PT would have a V6 instead of a four-cylinder (a four cylinder diesel might be optional), it would also be bigger and heavier, and acceleration would probably be similar. Styling would have no visual references to the current PT Cruiser; Tom Gale and Brian Nesbitt have both moved on.
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Does this mean they're stopping the PT Cruiser line?

[fritz_t_coyote]

Probably.

It would be too much to hope DC would have the decency to give the PT a decent End. Instead they will slap the name on a bigger and uglier car.

I figure we should hang on to our 'classic PTs'.

Did you ever notice that when someone talks about Classic Mustangs or Camaros, they mean first gen, not the Bigger and Uglier cars that later wore those names. It is the nature of Detroit to Screw It Up.

[KingKole02]

Soooo basically we should buy another vehicle and garage this one until it appreciates and then pull it out. Right! [^]

[fritz_t_coyote]

quote:Originally posted by KingKole02

Soooo basically we should buy another vehicle and garage this one until it appreciates and then pull it out. Right! [^]

Not me, I'll just keep driving the wee beastie until something better comes along.

But thats not going to happen anytime soon. I still come out my front door every day and look at it and think "Thats a good looking car."

And yesterday I was driving in nasty slippery weather, and while the TRAC light kept flashing when I accelerated uphill in the snow... I was accelerating uphill in the snow, not =stuck=.

Ditto for the foot massage from the ABS when it came time to stop. It stopped.

Not bad for an econobox with all-season tires.

So maybe I won't lining up to order the Evo X.

Now if Mitsu makes an Evo X =wagon= it may be a different story.

[strangelove]

Wow fritz driving in the snow, takes some nerves of steal to do that in a 2WD. Give the PT 4WD then any city slicker would have the confidence to drive snowy roads.

Chrysler is just screwing the pooch on this one. Dr. Z has got America totally wrong. No wonder Daimler is thinking of selling the Chrysler division. Moth balling the PT styling for something bigger is in a word, dumb. Just like a German company to slash and burn a company change everything and then sell it and walk away. Was this there plan to begin with?

[bobs turbo pt]

the pt handles snow very well [8)]

[fritz_t_coyote]

quote:Originally posted by strangelove

Wow fritz driving in the snow, takes some nerves of steal to do that in a 2WD. Give the PT 4WD then any city slicker would have the confidence to drive snowy roads.

FWD, Traction Control/ABS, Decent All Season or Snow tires (HINT: NOT the Oedipus-Rexing factory Badyears) and decent balance and ground clearance makes the PT OK in the snow, for a non-4x4.
(But every time it snows, I miss my old Cherokee)

As for giving city slickers 4WD: Most of the vehicles I saw spun out and in the ditches were SUVs, probably because the rules of 4WD were not known to those City Slickers:
-4WD makes it easy to accelerate in slippery stuff. Often way too easy. Stopping and steering are still very tricky, and require training and experience.
This is made worse by false confidence and excessive speed.
-4WD sometimes keeps you going in cases where you may have been better off Stuck.
-4WD means when you DO get stuck, you get stuck Worse.

(I have over 20 years of driving 4WD on and off road, mostly in New England, where winter can be Serious, and Mud Season is even nastier.)