Chrysler Restarts, PT Cruiser Given Reprieve
Chrysler's beloved panel truck -- the PT Cruiser -- will not be riding off into the sunset...yet. Fiat intervention will extend the Cruiser's life, perhaps all the way through 2010 at that.
With a show of hands, how many of you thought that Chrysler wouldn’t ever restart production after shutting everything down on April 30th thanks to it bankruptcy filing? I’ll put my hand half way up because I expected that Chrysler would be around in some fashion, but I hadn’t expected that they’d be producing cars again so soon.
Just one week after emerging from bankruptcy protection and selling its assets to Fiat SpA, the newly minted Chrysler Group LLC is back in action. What’s more, the Dodge Viper, the sports car brand that was supposed to have been sold months ago, is leading the charge as the Conner Avenue facility in Detroit has already resumed production. Seven additional plants are scheduled to be back online on June 29th.
Though the seven plants – Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, Warren Truck Assembly Plant, St. Louis North Assembly Plant, Toledo Supplier Park, Brampton Assembly Plant, Windsor Assembly Plant and Toluca Assembly Plant – should be up and running as planned, they’ll be shut down for two weeks beginning July 13th, as part of previously announced summer breaks. A follow up announcement regarding additional plant restarts is expected.
Chrysler PT Cruiser Lives On
Having first rescued the Dodge Viper, Fiat apparently has rescued the Chrysler PT Cruiser, a retro-styled sedan based on the defunct Dodge Neon platform. Like Viper, Chrysler has tried to sell the PT Cruiser, with rumors that a Chinese firm might be interested in acquiring the model line.
Introduced for the 2000 model year, the PT Cruiser is expected to soldier on until December 2010 when the Toluca, Mexico plant where it is built will be retooled to produce the Fiat 500 and one other Fiat model according to Automobile magazine. By then, the truly aged PT Cruiser will be eleven years old, about double the life cycle for today’s models.
What Fiat Wants, Fiat Gets
The life extensions for both the Viper and the PT Cruiser reflects Chrysler’s new realties – whatever CEO Sergio Marchionne wants, is what he’ll get. That may mean that whatever other plans Chrysler has announced over the past six months to a year will get reviewed, possibly reversed. In addition, new product roll out and production planning will likely change, as Chrysler comes under the firm control of Fiat.
I’ll bet you that Chrysler’s relationship with Fiat will be vastly different than the bitter relationship that they had with Daimler. Let’s see some hands if you agree!
Sources: Chrysler Group LLC and Automobile Magazine
See Also — Cerberus Denies Interest In Selling Chrysler Piecemeal
June 19th, 2009 at 7:57 am
I am happy to see that Chrysler are back in action so to speak.
I am a loyal fan of the Viper and was worried about the fall of Chrysler that it could possibly be the end to the Viper so this turns out to be good news.
June 19th, 2009 at 8:51 am
Last I heard, the Viper will remain in production only until the end of this year. Then, it’ll either be sold off or shut down. However, with anything having to do with Chrysler these days, that could all change. Perhaps the Ferrari folks will get a hold of the Viper and make it a real Italian American hero!