AUTOS

Chrysler to Drop Japanese-Built Dodge Stealth: The Detroit-based auto maker plans to discontinue the flashy but slow-selling luxury car after the 1996 model year, further distancing itself from the car’s Japanese manufacturer. Slow sales of the high-performance car, along with a feeling among Chrysler executives that Dodge no longer needed the image boost the Mitsubishi-built Stealth brought it in 1990, was blamed for the decision, Chrysler said. Chrysler began selling Mitsubishi Motor Corp. cars in 1970 but turned to the Japanese auto maker increasingly in the mid-1980s to help freshen its staid model lineup with several small, sporty cars and pickups. Its dependence on Mitsubishi has steadily diminished as Chrysler has updated and expanded its product line.