Lost Nut II Garage

Bloomberg News reports today that Chrysler LLC will end production of the PT Cruiser this summer, making 2009 its last year in production. As an owner and enthusiast, this is a sad day for me, and an angry one, as I feel the reasons behind this were entirely the fault of the company, not the market nor the economy.

The PT Cruiser is a great design. Clearly, I’m not the only one who thinks so, as the car has been one of the top sellers for the brand since its introduction in 2000 as a 2001 model; GM thought enough of it to blatantly copy it in their HHR (even hiring the same designer to do it!). To this day, I see that whenever I pull up to a major intersection, there will be another PT Cruiser there more than half of the time. They’re everywhere.

But, sales have slipped, even more than the downturn in the industry can account for, and it’s that which I blame totally on Chrysler. If one looks at a chart of the content of the car from year to year, Chrysler has pulled more and more from the car, without dropping the price. Heated foldaway mirrors? No more. Underseat drawer? Gone. Roof rack? Gone. In 9 model years, only one freshening has been done, for 2006, and most agree that it made the PT look worse, or at least less distinct. The only major addition they made was the convertible, and as a convertible, it wasn’t nearly as attractive nor as practical. One of the body styles most clamored for was the ‘Panel Cruiser,’ as shown by the concept car in the PT’s first year, but Chrysler never offered it, leaving this market to GM eventually with their panel HHR.

In addition, the car was too heavy for its size, and sorely underpowered, unless you bought one of the turbo options.

Still, it’s a nice car. It drives well, does great on trips, and has an astounding amount of space inside. The interior fit and finish is better than many other Chrysler products, and overall, the car is very solid (one of the reasons for its weight!). All in all, it’s a good deal. But Chrysler seemed to think that all they had to do was put it in showrooms and it would sell itself. After the introduction, there was relatively little advertising. They offered almost nothing in the way of aftermarket goodies to customize it, other than a couple of decal packages. The annual ‘special editions’ were mostly trim and paint, and the penultimate one, the Sunset Boulevard edition, was based on the base model, with little more than a rather homely dried-blood-red paint color – it didn’t even have chrome trim on the grille! The final Dream Cruiser, however, was nice, with a turbo offered, a special billet grille and custom black-over-white paint that really stands out; of course, they also seem to be using up the last of the SRT-4 wheels on it, which just don’t look right on the PT. Other than these ‘special’ editions, however, Chrysler failed to offer anything new in the Cruiser since its introduction, while other manufacturers were introducing new cars and new features left and right in the same market. With the death of the Neon and the introduction of the Caliber/Compass/Patriot, the PT no longer shared a platform with anything else in the Chrysler line-up. And Chrysler frequently mentioned in the press that they had no idea how to follow up on the design of the Cruiser – seeing the Sebring, the Caliber and the Compass, I suppose I can believe that, but being stylistically bankrupt is not the same thing as there being no way to create a “next generation” of a successful retro design.

Just ask BMW …

The PT Cruiser could’ve been Chrysler’s ‘Mini,’ and judicious and innovative improvements could have preserved sales while also retaining its unique identity. More power, less weight, higher mileage. They should’ve actively marketed it and made it a lifestyle vehicle; instead, they seemed to think that it would have instant youth appeal (which it didn’t, and I can’t think of a single reason why it should have), and when it turned out to appeal to an older demographic, they seemed to throw up their hands and let the chips fall where they may.

Well, the chips are down, now. The buffalo are moving on. My PT Cruiser is dead.