When Chrysler revealed its Five Year plan last year, product plans showed the PT Cruiser dieing off after 2010 with no planned replacement. Then, earlier this year, Chrysler rebadged a Lancia Delta and brought it along to the Detroit Auto Show without saying much about it. Now, Motor Trend says a production version of the Chryslerized Delta Concept will be shown at the next Geneva Auto Show, raising the possibility that the Lancia could come to the US… and soon. Sure, it’s possible that the Delta will simply be for other markets where the Lancia/Chrysler two-face will show its Chrysler side (the UK and Brazil come to mind), but Chrysler needs to beef up its US volume to keep the turnaround turning around. And that means not only replacing the PT, but bringing customers in with something new and fresh. Could a PT Corsa fit the bill?
This is funky looking in a way that would confound the neighbours.
I could see myself buying one of these if it’s not too big.
Oh Crap! My ’05 Vibe got out of the yard and made it w/an ’08 C30. Is Craigslist still the best way to get rid of unwanted offspring?
It’s not a PT without the retro. If Sergio wants a volume seller, he could do a retro Dodge Aries, with a 3-box, large greenhouse and upright seats, in sedan, hatch and wagon form. Just give it a longer wheelbase, stronger engine and better transaxle than the original.
That’s so crazy that it actually makes a certain amount of sense. In a way, the PT cruiser halfway fit that bill with it’s form factor (tallish wagon with upright seats and decent usable interior space).
Bell’s palsy Murano?
When did Nissan give Chrysler permission to use the Leaf’s taillights? http://www.egmcartech.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/2010_nissan_ev_press_011.jpg
And that’s a nose that only its mother could love.
Seriously, it might work better in red.
Since The Delta has been in production since 2008, I wonder who’s got to ask permission…
Um….again, another car I like.
Hatches are the new thing, finally.
Uh, no.
Yes, but given how the brand structure works this really should be a Caliber replacment.
What the heck is that? A Murano mated with a Pacifica?
That design is so close yet so far away from being great. Integrating the tail lights alongside the rear glass and making the front end stick out less (more of an Audi broad snub-nose would help) would make this beautiful. As it is, it’s a bit ungainly and awkward.
Looks quite a bit better in person actually. Still too much front overhang, but the rear lights look good. The interior is also wonderful looking for the price point. Quite skinny though, so I think it would be a challenge to just badge engineer it and sell it in the US. The 159 JTD Wagon on the other hand…
I think this works better (and would sell better) as a 2nd-gen Pacifica. And, yes, they can certainly rework the schnozz a bit. I think of a skull when looking at it as it is now.
While pictures make this look like a large vehicle, its nowhere near as big as a Pacifica was. It might fit nicely into the new Chrysler lineup.
That thing looks like an electric razor designed for a Sharper Image catalogue…
Looks like Opus the Penguin’s nose.
Perfect.
No No No and NO…. the Delta, as nice as it looks is a toolbox, it rattles all over on bumpy roads, has Cup holders that haven’t got Cups invented to fit them… a refrigerated center box that is too small to even fit a can of coke…should i continue? oh and one vent for the huge bench out back, i can see the kids fighting over who gets the flow of cool air… the car only looks good and has a cracking 1.8 turbo charged engine, steering and chassis are fine but nothing else is worth mentioning other than the Lancia Crest… the PT cruiser has a much better sorted interior despite being not all that good….
Handsome, almost. It needs the face fixed, and PLEASE get rid of those god awful ‘D’ pillars. Whoever started that trend should be fired. The only vehicle those things ever worked on was the ’57 Rambler!
You’d definitely need a tennis ball hanging from the garage ceiling to help mommy park that thing.
The C30-ish butt is OK, but the resulting small hatch would hinder the utility more than a bit.
So, it’s an ill-considered mish-mash of styling elements, but it’s light-years ahead of the Caliber.
I saw this at the NYC auto show and liked it. I thought it would look right at home on the showroom….with the pre-Daimler ’99 Concordes. It would have easily made a seamless transitional replacement for the Pacifica a couple years ago.
The PT cruiser had a look that was loved or hated by all that cast their eyes upon it. This thing will go unnoticed by all.
Nah. This car seems more like a hatchback (small cargo w/seats up) than the wagon that the PT Cruiser was. Which means it will fail. PT buyers were attracted to the huge flexible cargo space and retro looks. A hatch Delta might work as part of a Dodge lineup also made up of a C-sedan. But for Chrysler, the Delta would sell best as a sedan. For a PT replacement, they need a small CUV perhaps based on the C platform.
The Fiat 500 is a more of a PT Cruiser replacement than this is. In fact it’s being assembled in the former PT Cruiser plant if I’m not mistaken.
And as soon as it’s 15% bigger and 15% cheaper it’ll sell like the PT Cruiser first did.
I think this car is perfect for the new Chrysler.
It fills a hole in their line-up with a relatively pedigreed entry-level hatch that is fairly upscale (where Chrysler is heading) and more importantly has nothing to do with the atrocious Caliber.
It also resembles a modern interpretation of the PT Cruiser (to my eye at least).
So I would rebadge it as the PT Cruiser and maybe change the front end to look a bit more like the outgoing Cruiser, although the back actually resembles the Cruiser’s rear. It would effectively replace the PT Cruiser in Chrysler’s line-up, give Chrysler some new blood, cash in on some continuity from the PT (as it was loved and an icon) and help point the brand upmarket