(08:15 Aug. 18, 2003)
Chrysler expects ragtop to rev sagging PT Cruiser sales
By MARY CONNELLY | Automotive News
The Chrysler brand wants to sell as many as 20,000 PT Cruiser convertibles annually, says Tom Marinelli, vice president of Chrysler brand marketing.
The 2005 PT Cruiser convertible, part of a larger effort to boost PT Cruiser sales, will reach dealer lots in March.
Through July, PT Cruiser sales were off 19 percent to 70,884 units, compared with a year ago.
The 2005 convertible will be offered with a standard 2.4-liter four-cylinder turbocharged engine generating 180 hp, Marinelli says. A 220-hp version of the turbocharged engine will be optional, he says.
The company began building the 180-hp turbo engine in late July. It is an optional engine in the Touring and Limited editions of the 2004 PT Cruiser sedan.
A PT Cruiser equipped with a 180-hp engine provides a lower-cost alternative to the 2004 PT Turbo model, which has the higher output engine.
The Chrysler brand is tinkering with the PT Cruiser lineup to boost volume and garner attention. For example, last week, the company said it will produce 2,000 copies of the 2004 Chrysler PT Dream Cruiser Series 3, a limited-edition model produced in conjunction with the Woodward Dream Cruise this month near Detroit. The sticker price is $29,400, including destination charge.
The Chrysler brand wants to sell about 700,000 vehicles annually in the United States within three years. Last year, it sold 480,263 units in the United States.
The company does not expect the PT Cruiser sedan to help the brand gain volume, Marinelli says. Sales of that model are expected to remain at 8,000 to 10,000 units a month, he says. But the 2005 convertible will bring in incremental sales, Marinelli says. "There will not be a lot of cross-shopping between the sedan and the convertible," he says.
The company also will gauge reaction to the two-tone paint on its PT Dream Cruiser for possible use on a higher-volume version, Marinelli says.
The PT Dream Cruiser has midnight blue on its upper body and bright silver on its lower body.
05 Turbo PT ragtop
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