.Tuesday, June 30, 2009 .Chrysler's PT keeps cruising
Scott Burgess / The Detroit News
The Chrysler PT Cruiser should be history.

But the new Chrysler Group LLC has given the retro-styled car a last-minute reprieve.

Chrysler Group chief spokesman Gualberto Ranieri confirmed Monday that Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne, who also is CEO of Fiat SpA, said the company will keep building the PT Cruiser.

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Chrysler had announced earlier this year that it would discontinue it this summer. Now, the assembly plant in Toluca, Mexico, will keep churning them out.

Jim Hall, an auto analyst at 2953 Analytics in Birmingham, said continuing the PT Cruiser makes sense, even with its poor overall sales performance.

The company sold 50,910 last year.

Sales peaked in 2001 at 144,717.

Analysts said the decision to keep building it was a good one.

"The PT Cruiser is a car that is selling even without marketing," Hall said.

"The labor costs are cheap and the tooling is paid off."

Karl Brauer, editor and chief of the automotive research Web site Edmunds.com, added, "Every PT Cruiser Chrysler sells ... is pure profit."

The car will likely stay in production through 2011, Hall said, until Fiat vehicles are ready for production in North America.

Chrysler planned to end production of the PT Cruiser because redesigning it would cost too much, Hall said.

Additionally, retro-themed cars are extremely difficult to redesign.

Brauer said the change of heart came after Chrysler entered bankruptcy and emerged in a partnership with Fiat, the Italian automaker that has management control of the company.

"Chrysler is in bridge mode," Brauer said. "Fiat can't do anything immediately, and in the meantime, this car will make Chrysler money."

sburgess@detnews.com (313) 223-3217

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