Whither, Plymouth?

From the Detroit News: (http://tinyurl.com/5felp)

"DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group could launch an all-new, low-priced
brand aimed at young buyers within two to three years.

"The new brand would be an entry-level spinoff of the automaker's Dodge or
Jeep brands, Chrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche said in an interview last week.
Chrysler would likely seek a low-cost partner to help develop and build cars
and trucks for the new marque, he said.

"Zetsche said a new brand from Chrysler must be attractive to both young
buyers and other entry-level buyers the automakers' current brand lineup may
be missing.

"(The concept) was not driven in the first place by the idea of a youth
brand," Zetsche said, "but more of an idea of creating an affordable brand."

****

Gee, whiz, guys. I thought we didn't need something like this.

I wonder if the dealerships still have their Plymouth signs in storage?

--Geoff

 

I wish. But it aint gonna happen :-(

If they do introduce a new brand, they'll have to think of something
stupider and uglier than "Scion" in order to appeal to the 10-second
attention span crowd. I think I'd rather have the 'Plymouth' name
humanely retired rather than sullied like that...

 

Why?

They've replaced practically all their car models with the LX 300 body
- so why not strip it down even further with vinyl seats, 4 cylinder
engine, steel wheels with dog-dish hub caps? Call it the Plymouth
Valiant or Breeze or something like that.

What - is Mitsubishi too busy to help out?

"But there are no guarantees that youth-driven brands or designs will
ultimately attract youthful drivers. Scion draws more Gen Y buyers
than any other marque - 19.1 percent of sales are to consumers 25 and
under - but the average age of Scion buyers is still 40, according to
J.D. Power and Associates. And Honda's Element has an average buyer
age of 43."

(If you're over 30 and you've bought a Scion then you = luser)

"In the end, Chrysler may decide that adding another brand is too
costly and too risky, given the already crowded landscape of vehicle
nameplates in the United States."

(Why doesn't Merc hold it's nose and step in with a Gen-Y car?)

"But if Chrysler rolls out new, low-cost cars, Dan Frost believes he
can sell them. "We don't offer (young buyers) a car at all," said
Frost, president of Southfield Chrysler Jeep. "The closest we come is
a Dodge Neon."

(What - has Chrysler cut their car model variety down a little to
far? Geeze, I wonder who pointed that out already...)

Tell you what. If Chrysler brings out the 300N concept car (circa
2000) and badges it as a Plymouth, I ASSURE YOU I won't complain.
Sign me up for a couple of those.

 

Yep. Too busy going out of business. And not a moment too soon

 

Daimler already has a car a very low cost car in their lineup, it's the
Smart car. Don't know if it's possible to bring it up to American safty
standards but if they can I would think that a clown car like the Smart
would compete pretty well with Toyota's milk truck car (Scion).

 

A while back I read, I think in Autoweek, that DC was considering
selling at least one version of the Smart in North America. I haven't
heard anything lately, though. If they did sell it, it would probably
be expensive for it's size and power, though. Still, it would be cool
to have a few of the cute "clown" cars running around in the US.

 

These clown cars are already running around some desert resort
communities (Palm Desert, California for one). Some (many?) homes
there even have their own clown-car garage door for these things.
They're called golf carts.

Yes, the Smart would make a cute golf cart car.

 

....and a very fast golf cart.