Daimler Chrysler cuts price of 2005 PT

[frances]

Price of PT Cruiser slashed

By JEFF GREEN
Bloomberg News
08/19/2004

DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler unit will cut the price of its PT Cruiser model by about $4,000 to compete more directly with small cars from Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda Motor Co.

The 2005 PT Cruiser line will include a version that starts at $13,995, about the same price as a Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla, said John H.O. Sloan, director of Chrysler car marketing. Sales of the 1940s-style PT Cruiser, introduced in 2000, reached 144,717 in 2001 and fell the following two years, according to Autodata Corp.

"We were rocking and rolling at first, but now there's a lot more competition," Sloan said.

Chrysler chief executive Dieter Zetsche is banking on nine new vehicles this year to regain some of the market share lost to Toyota, Honda and other overseas rivals in the past five years. Cutting prices by 23 percent to rebuild sales on an existing vehicle marks a different approach.

PT Cruiser sales have risen 0.8 percent this year with the addition of a convertible, one of the nine new Chrysler products. The automaker previously added 72-month loans and features such as a turbocharger, simulated wood paneling and chrome parts to boost sales. Last year, Chrysler sold 107,759 PT Cruisers in the United States, down 22 percent from 2002.

The lowest-priced PT Cruiser, which will go on sale in October, won't have air conditioning or automatic transmission as standard equipment. In addition to the $13,995 version, Chrysler will cut prices about 10 percent on the turbo edition and 19 percent on other 2005 PT Cruiser models.

"It doesn't hurt to try, but I don't know if it's going to work," said Alan Baum, president of Planning Edge, a market research company in Birmingham, Mich. "Small car buyers are looking for low cost, so design probably isn't important."

[airevac19]

Maybe i should get my Turbo lite when i get back from deployment!

[johnny g]

Re: Pricing for '05 and rebates still available in '04: I just bought an '04 Limited in Graphite. If you want the add'l $1,000 rebate (on top of the $3k offered thru 8/31) , you must finance a portion thru Chrysler Financial Corp...supposedly the minimum is the tax and license amount, which in my case was about $2,500 which I financed over 24 months so I'd pay the least amount of interest (my rate was 5.9%). I was told by the dealership that I must make a minimum of 3 payments and then I could pay off the loan at any time.

I sell RV's and was talking to our financial guy about my transaction and said that he thought that the 3 month minimum was made up by the dealership so that their financial guy could get his commission for placing the loan. I looked at my paperwork (which I had signed blindly in an effort to get out of the dealership and into my new car) and saw the verbiage that I could pay it off in full with no penalty at any time. I called Chrysler Financial to confirm this which they did...so I'll pay it off in full with the first payment.

Bottom line, if you can pay cash for the Cruiser, you can get an add'l $1k off by agreeing to take a loan for some small portion which you can pay off immediately. What you can't do is take the Chrysler financing and get the $1k rebate and then expect to get another loan for the balance because you can't have two liens against the car .... that's why Chrysler is offering the rebate - to get you to finance with them.

The other option is to go to Capital Finance at get a loan from them for 36 months at 2.99%. If you are a Cosctco member you get an additional discount which will take it down to 2.64% --- which is pretty cheap money. (http://www.capitaloneautofinance.com...tomobiles.aspx)

Johnny G

[PTRobert]

I received an interesting call from a salesman at a local dealership last night. When I asked him about DC stipping options off the PT's instead of simply producing a Panel Cruiser, he stated the following:

*If people wanted the Panel Cruiser, DC would make one; obviously people don't want the Panel Cruiser.
*People want PT Cruisers without A/C and without power windows.
*PT Cruiser is an "entry-level" Chrysler vehicle (I thought that was the Sebring[:I])

When I asked him about Japanese imports priced in-line with the stripped-down $21.5K Cool Vanilla Woodie PT he called me about (I bought my wife's '04 Sienna for $22.5 with leather and power sliding door, etc.) and he said that Japanese imports are not made as well, using sheet metal instead of 6-gauge steel (something like that) and that when he closes the door of a Chrysler (wouldn't say PT Cruiser) that it sounds like a Mercedes. He went on to claim that people owning Cadillacs and Infinitis are buying Chryslers - I made sure to point out that they're probably not trading their Caddy's and Infinitis for PT's but for the 300's with the Hemi engine.

Long story short is that the salesmen have drunk deeply of the BS KoolAid served them by DC. I honestly do not know anyone that wants a vehicle without power windows or A/C (especially the A/C, unless that person lives in the northern-most part of Canada or Alaska).

[fritz_t_coyote]

quote:Originally posted by PTRobert

Long story short is that the salesmen have drunk deeply of the BS KoolAid served them by DC.

Which is why Car Salescritters rank only behind Politicians and Lawyers as 'Least Trusted Profession'.