Chrysler pulls plug on Pacifica re-do

Bradford Wernle | | Automotive News / November 20, 2006 - 1:00 am DETROIT -- The Chrysler group has stopped work on the next-generation Pacifica, but the company is still committed to large crossovers.

Analysts who monitor vehicle programs have pulled the Pacifica replacement, code-named CT, out of their forecasts. It was due in 2008 as a 2009 model.

But a Chrysler official who declined to be identified said the company still plans a large crossover.

"We are looking at what we ought to do with the next-generation vehicle," the official said.

"The Pacifica never was the segment-buster the PT Cruiser is," says Catherine Madden, an analyst for Global Insight in Lexington, Mass.

Jim Sanfilippo, an analyst at Automotive Marketing Consultants Inc. in suburban Detroit, said killing the CT program may mean Chrysler realized it needed something bolder, especially with three General Motors crossovers coming soon: the Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia.

Jeff Schuster, an analyst for the Power Information Network, says Chrysler may be steering toward a two-crossover strategy: The PV Cruiser, a replacement for the PT Cruiser based on the same GS platform as the Dodge Caliber and Jeep Compass; and the JZ49, due in 2008 and built on the Sebring platform.

Chrysler introduced the Pacifica in April 2003. It peaked in 2004, with 92,363 units sold. All told, Chrysler has sold 301,039 through October of this year.