2011 Sales Remain Down for Chrysler, Toyota, Lexus and More

We're halfway through 2011 and a handful of automotive brands are standing out, but for all the wrong reasons. Because 2010 was such a poor year for car sales, sales growth in 2011 was supposed to be automatic. After six months, however, Acura, Infiniti, Toyota, Lincoln, Chrysler, Lexus and Smart are reporting falling sales compared with the first six months of last year.

Without the PT Cruiser and without any SUV, Chrysler's lineup features just three nameplates, the 200 and 300 sedans and the Town & Country minivan. Midsize sedan sales — that's the 200 and its predecessor, the Sebring — reached 34,851 through June, up from 21,365 last year. But sales of the 300 haven't taken off with the introduction of the 2011 redesigned model. Sales of the big sedan are down 34% so far this year. In contrast to the rising sales of its Dodge Grand Caravan twin, the Town & Country is off by 24% this year, a loss of nearly 15,000 sales for Chrysler. Also gone are 3,589 PT Cruiser sales; Chrysler pulled the plug on the offbeat car.

PT Cruiser's End of Life Offers Little Incentive

After being on sale for nearly a decade with more than 1.5 million sold, the PT Cruiser was laid to rest Friday, according to enthusiast site ptcruizer.com. 

On that day, the last PT Cruiser was built at the Toluca Assembly Plant in Mexico. The model is assumed to be discontinued for the foreseeable future, as Chrysler has yet to announce a successor. 

A quick search on Cars.com shows nearly 3,000 new 2009 and 2010 PT Cruisers for sale. With that many available, is now the perfect time to get a screaming deal on a 2010 PT Cruiser? 

Chrysler Expanding 60-Day Return Incentive

Chrysler has been allowing buyers of its Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans to return them within 60 days if they weren’t satisfied with the purchase. Now the company is expanding the program to most Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles. Only the Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Viper are excluded.

They’ll also pay for the first two months of payments up to $1,000 total. Chrysler says they’ll take the return “no questions asked,” but buyers will still be on the hook for fees, finance charges and negative equity, which could be significant. We list all the fine print below.

Chrysler is also offering 0% financing for 60 months on 2010 Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram vehicles through Aug. 2.

The Future Chrysler Lineup

Chrysler is betting on style to help win over customers. Today, the automaker announced its plans for the future at a presentation in Michigan. Evoking images of the 1950s — yes, even Don Draper from “Mad Men” was shown as an example — executives hope future designs will resonate with consumers as something different in the marketplace. The company’s new logo (above) was used throughout the presentation, as well.

We’re not sure if there will be a true “upscale” move or if the company will stick to style alone — as with the 300C — to sway buyers. The company’s product timeline is below.

At the end of the product roundup, there was absolutely no mention of Alfa Romeo being sold again in the U.S. That was just one of the many points the Wall Street Journal’s sources got wrong in a report last week.