Chrysler to Build PT Cruiser Convertible

DaimlerChrysler said Monday that it would make a two-door convertible version of its PT Cruiser in 2004, a development that could pose a challenge to the auto maker’s efforts to comply with American fuel-efficiency standards, according to a U.S. official.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration regards the Chrysler brand’s retro-looking vehicle as a truck, according to its specifications, which includes an open cargo area created when the rear seats are removed.

Federal rules for corporate average fuel economy, or CAFE, require light trucks--pickups, sport-utility vehicles and minivans--sold by an auto maker in a given model year to get a minimum collective average of 20.7 miles per gallon.

And DaimlerChrysler counts on the PT Cruiser, which gets 21 to 26 mpg with an automatic transmission, to offset its gas-guzzling pickups and SUVs in meeting the CAFE rules.

A Chrysler spokeswoman said the convertible PT Cruiser would have the same truck-defining features according to NHTSA’s definition. However, an agency spokesman was not so sure.

“A convertible is a different vehicle than a light truck, it seems to me,” said NHTSA spokesman Tim Hurd. “It’s not something we can guess about.”

Hurd said Chrysler can label the PT Cruiser a truck but would have to defend the status if it were challenged. For model year 2000, Chrysler trucks barely exceeded the CAFE standards with an average of 21.3 mpg. NHTSA counts the Chrysler brands separately from DaimlerChrysler’s Mercedes-Benz.

Since DaimlerChrysler first introduced the PT Cruiser, calling it “too cool” to be categorized, the vehicle has challenged conventional definitions. Many have put the upright four-door hatchback in the growing category of “crossover” vehicles that blur the definition between cars and trucks.

The issue is especially confusing because the Environmental Protection Agency, operating from a different set of guidelines, classifies the PT Cruiser as a car, requiring the vehicle to meet stricter emissions standards than trucks.

Whatever you call it, sales of the once-red-hot vehicle have cooled somewhat. In February, DaimlerChrysler added sales incentives on the vehicle for the first time.

The convertible, a two-door, four-seater model, will be built at the company’s vehicle assembly plant in Toluca, Mexico, DaimlerChrysler said. Pricing has not been set.