It's not fins, but it's Plymouth living on... -Dave http://biz.yahoo.com/rf/000711/n28167905.html Tuesday July 11, 8:01 am Eastern Time DaimlerChrysler to keep making Prowler roadster By Ben Klayman DETROIT, July 11 (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler AG (NYSE:DCX - news) has decided to bring the outlandish Prowler roadster back from the brink. The German-U.S. automaker's North American unit said on Tuesday that Prowler will live on after the death of the Plymouth brand name at the end of the 2001 model year, reversing the company's original decision to do away with the two-seater. The Chrysler group said the Prowler will continue under the Chrysler brand. More than 5,000 of the cars have been sold since it first went on the market about 3-1/2 years ago. John Herlitz, Chrysler group's senior vice president of design, said Prowler will be replaced one day by another brand-building image vehicle, but for now it is profitable and in demand. ``We're always looking for that next one,'' he told Reuters. ``What is the next Prowler? We're committed to image vehicles.'' The automaker said last November the Plymouth brand would be eliminated at the end of the 2001 model year to focus more on the growing Chrysler nameplate. Company officials said then that Prowler had always been intended as a limited-production vehicle. Styled like a 1930s hot rod, Prowler was first shown as a concept car at the 1993 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. A favourable response led Chrysler to unveil a production model in 1996 and manufacturing began the following year at a Detroit plant alongside the Dodge Viper sports car. |