Chrysler Killing Now Four Slow Sellers [Archive]

mikeyb

10-30-2007, 11:59 AM

Jack Welch is still worshipped at General Electric, as well as anywhere that his disciples went. Well, anywhere except Home Depot and, now, PT Cruiser owners' clubs. As part of a campaign to sweep out the dead wood in Chrysler's product lineup, Welch protege, newly minted Chairman, and CEO Bob "Little Jack" Nardelli is planning to announce during a board meeting that the PT Cruiser, Magnum wagon, and Pacifica crossover will be loaded onto the death-carts today.

Although the agenda for the meeting is being kept secret by staff at Chrysler, insiders are saying that Nardelli is aggressively angling to cut the fat off Chryslers product line, making the company "laser-focused" (someone should pass a Post-It to Bob asking him to never make reference to, or even hint around, the words "Chrysler" and "Laser" in the same sentence) and deciding issues "with a bias toward speed."

The Dodge Dakota, Jeep Commander, Chrysler Sebring and its twin Dodge Avenger are also being scrutinized but, for now, their execution has been stayed.

tsunami

10-30-2007, 12:02 PM

the magnum is all over the place up here thats surprising.. the cruiser and pacifica i am not surprised or sad to see go.

jred321

10-30-2007, 12:03 PM

good. glad to see a businessman is finally running the company and is willing to say "we're not making money, ditch it"

mikeyb

10-30-2007, 12:06 PM

keep the Magnum ditch the other two!!!

SuperStretch18

10-30-2007, 12:13 PM

Maybe time for a new Magnum model, but yeah, the other two are dogs...

jred321

10-30-2007, 12:16 PM

ditch:

dodge:
nitro
avenger

chrysler:
crossfire
pacifica
pt cruiser
sebring
sebring convertible
redesign the town and country and aspen to be distinct vehicles instead of their dodge counterparts with a different grill that cost more

jeep:
commander
eliminate 2 of the following because they're basically appealing to the same market: patriot, compass, liberty

that's how i'd trim the fat from chrysler. then for the next generation of each of the cars i'd make them actually appeal to people

dmitrik4

10-30-2007, 12:33 PM

maybe if chrysler made appealing products to begin with, they wouldn't need to axe some of them. perhaps nardelli should point his laser focus on that.

Foolish

10-30-2007, 01:11 PM

maybe if chrysler made appealing products to begin with, they wouldn't need to axe some of them. perhaps nardelli should point his laser focus on that.

Well, maybe he's getting to that! This is a good start.

The PT sold well on style, and that worked for a time. Sadly, it's not a great vehicle, and the people who wanted them for the style have gotten them, so there's no market left. It's also proven virtually impossible to update, which is a problem it shares with the New Beetle. Add to that the HHR, which almost has to be a better car by virtue of being developed 10+ years later, and the PT is just a losing proposition.

The Pacifica never caught on. I can't believe they've kept it around this long. I hadn't realized they were still producing them. Dismissed!

As for the Magnum, I thought it had been a big seller. I know the Charger and 300C have done well, and I thought the Magnum was with them on that, but I guess not.

The new Sebring is hideous, I haven't heard one good thing about it. I'm guessing they're going to try to get some of their development money out of it before they kill it.

Maybe things will change over there, I guess we'll see.

TinmanMS6

10-30-2007, 01:23 PM

They need to pump some cash into their interiors, or they might as well cut the whole lineup.

I'm mixed on the Magnum. It's cool, but it isn't sold with a manual, and it's not really that useful for doing wagony things, so it's kind of useless.

PT started out as a great idea. Relatively cheap car with style and a lot of utility. The HHR seems to sell pretty well, and the PT actually doesn't do too bad, considering how long it's gone without a major update. If they did a redesign, it could be a hot seller again.

I really don't know why there is so little talk of killing the Compass. There is nothing good that could be said about that thing, and I have seen extremely few of them on the road.

jmv

10-30-2007, 01:32 PM

i've always harbored a small secret desire for a magnum with a huge roots supercharger sticking up out of the hood. I think they look cool even though they're big and heavy as hell.

good riddance on the cruiser and pacifica, though.

jred321

10-30-2007, 01:38 PM

check out dodge's site. it looks like they made the magnum uglier for 08. they did something to the formerly good looking front end and now it's worse

TinmanMS6

10-30-2007, 01:39 PM

Yeah, I always kind of hoped they'd put the Charger front end on it or something. If GM brings over the VE Commodore wagon, nobody will ever miss the Magnum.

redrims

10-30-2007, 05:39 PM

the magnum is all over the place up here thats surprising...

Same here. I see Dodge Magnums' every time I look left. I thought they were sell extremely well.

efm-7

10-30-2007, 06:04 PM

jeep patriot is HOT looking

fuck, if they weren't such sure-to-be-lemons

i woulda bought one

Foolish

10-30-2007, 06:36 PM

jeep patriot is HOT looking
http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/roadtests/firstdrive/2007/jeep.patriot/jeep.patriot.340.jpg

I know you're new to the forum, but you're clearly suffering some kind of brain injury. You should seek medical attention, immediately.

Welcome to the forum, BTW. :D

seanmcsean

10-30-2007, 06:47 PM

Chrysler, you are on my shit list.

I love the dodge magnum, and it has been selling well.

Why not get rid of the Chrysler Aspen first? How about the compass/patriot? I agree with the commander and pacifica.

The PT was your best selling car for YEARS you twit. I'd never buy one, but at least give it a restyle.

Ugh.. Bad move killing the magnum... bad move.

Foolish

10-30-2007, 06:53 PM

The PT was your best selling car for YEARS you twit. I'd never buy one, but at least give it a restyle.

They can't. With a vehicle that style-focused, they can either do a nearly un-noticeable touch-up, which won't generate any new interest (2nd gen. New Beetles), or a completely different vehicle (2nd Gen Scion xB) that fans of the 1st gen will hate, and may succeed on it's own, but also may fail . Either way, they lose.

Flash5

10-30-2007, 08:00 PM

Not the magnum, the other two...yea def on that one.

protegeV

10-30-2007, 08:31 PM

They didnt need to kill the old Magnum, but the one with the new "avengerish" front end needs to GO! Same with the PTC and Crossfire.

BondoBob

10-30-2007, 08:48 PM

I drove MOPARs for years. I think that the new management wants to clear out some of the D-B junk.

I always thought that the Magnum should have been offered as a Chrysler 300 wagon. There is a guy on Long Island who swapped out the front sheetmetal on his Magnum to create just that and damn if it doesn't look sweet.

The PT Cruiser was cool when it first came out. The turbo and the droptop came a bit late to the party...the sedan delivery they teased us with never came. BTW, the guy who designed the PT (Plymouth Truck) is now at GM and penned the HHR. It needs a refresh, but killing it is fine, too.

The Pacifica crossover is a real Damiler product and they can do better.

I heard that the Durango/Aspen is toast as well.

dmitrik4

10-30-2007, 09:27 PM

they need to lengthen the back part of the durango to match the suburban; as it is, it's not long enough for anything really useful behind the rear seats, but too long for easy driving like the tahoe.

efm-7

10-30-2007, 09:39 PM

http://a332.g.akamai.net/f/332/936/12h/www.edmunds.com/media/roadtests/firstdrive/2007/jeep.patriot/jeep.patriot.340.jpg

I know you're new to the forum, but you're clearly suffering some kind of brain injury. You should seek medical attention, immediately.

Welcome to the forum, BTW. :D

haha thanks, well at least you're making me feel better for not buying the jeep.
Opted for this instead:
http://photos-a.ak.facebook.com/photos-ak-sf2p/v135/229/54/90405115/n90405115_33631532_2108.jpg
(first mod: dealer frame is gone)

Foolish

10-30-2007, 09:48 PM

Mmmm.... love the 3 hatch in white. I wish they'd bring the white MS3 to the states.

coolmazda5

10-31-2007, 07:31 AM

seanmcsean

10-31-2007, 08:22 AM

My only issue with the magnum was the lack of a third pedal. Other than that, I'd take one in a heartbeat. I'm still crushed that it isn't going to be made anymore :(

TinmanMS6

10-31-2007, 08:30 AM

Hopefully, other manufacturers will realize that the Magnum didn't survive because it wasn't a particularly good example of a big RWD wagon. It still sold pretty well as far as I can tell, which, IMO, makes a great case for the market for these vehicles.

protegeV

10-31-2007, 01:46 PM

I guess axing the Magnum will make more difficult for other brands to justify making/bringing sport wagons (GM?)

...and just when the 2008 facelift made the Magnum more appealing :(

http://www.edmunds.com/pictures/VEHICLE/2008/Dodge/2008.dodge.magnum.20126008-396x249.jpghell no. That thing looks like an avenger wagon. The old one with the bigger headlights looked WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY better IMO.

TinmanMS6

11-01-2007, 08:10 AM

Chrysler's new board of directors has voted to discontinue the Pacifica crossover, the coupe version of the Crossfire, the PT Cruiser convertible, and the Dodge Magnum wagon, according to the Detroit Free Press.

The vote is believed to have taken place yesterday (Tuesday), but the official announcement won't come until tomorrow (Thursday), the newspaper said, citing company sources.

The new Dodge Journey crossover will fill the gap left by the Magnum, while the Crossfire and Pacifica will be eliminated with no direct successors. The PT Cruiser hardtop will remain in production, but the convertible version will be eliminated.

The report indicated the Crossfire coupe would be discontinued, but various media reports have indicated the roadster version will also be scrapped due to extremely weak sales.

seanmcsean

11-01-2007, 08:13 AM

I thought the crossfire was already dead?

TinmanMS6

11-01-2007, 08:14 AM

Yeah, I was shocked too. My wife had one, and they deserved to die a long time ago. No exaggeration--worst interior design I've ever seen in my life.

altspace

11-03-2007, 10:59 AM

-The Crossfire was always too expensive for a Chrysler.
-The Pacifica was never really attractive, especially after the concept they teased us with years before.
-They never redesigned the PT Cruiser . What a shame.
They had one of the biggest hits in the modern car industry and they let it die.

protegeV

11-03-2007, 11:30 AM

I thought the crossfire was already dead?
the srt-6 one kicks ass though. Took one out for s pin the other day...woo HOO!

TinmanMS6

11-03-2007, 09:21 PM

-They never redesigned the PT Cruiser . What a shame.
They had one of the biggest hits in the modern car industry and they let it die.

The PT isn't dying, just the convertible. I'll applaud that any day. The PT convertible takes everything that makes the PT a good, useful car and throws it out the window.

Newf

11-03-2007, 10:47 PM

i see magnums everywhere....moreso then miatas, ms6's, ms3, even rx8's

mikeyb

11-05-2007, 11:27 AM

Add the Crossfire to this list. Its due to be killed anyways.

Dermen

11-05-2007, 01:22 PM

mikeyb

11-05-2007, 01:57 PM

I never liked the magnum, I think if they had released the charger at the same time a lot people would have bought it instead. Maybe thats what is happening now so they don't see a reason to continue making it?

Everyone I know tha owns a Magnum bought it because its a sportwagon not an CUV, SUV, or Minivan and they do not even consider a sedan.