DaimlerChrysler's Plymouth becomes a U.S. rarity

July 3, 2002 Bloomberg news reported that DaimlerChrysler AG sold no Plymouth cars or trucks in the U.S. last month, marking the 74-year-old brand's shift from low-price model to collector's item.

Chrysler Group said June was the first month of no Plymouth sales since the automaker announced in 1999 it was discontinuing the brand after the 2001 model because of lower sales and changing tastes of U.S. car buyers.

"There may be a stray one or two" in dealer inventories, said spokesman Marc Henretta. "That's why there are no sales. Probably, we won't be showing them any more" in monthly sales reports.

DaimlerChrysler decided to drop Plymouth, a U.S.-only brand known for Roadrunner muscle cars in the early 1970s and Voyager minivans since the mid-1980s, to reduce product development and sales costs. Besides Plymouth and Chrysler, DaimlerChrysler's U.S. unit has the Dodge and Jeep brands.

The U.S. shares of Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler fell $1.02 to $46.00. The stock has risen 10 percent this year, outperforming the 17 percent decline in the Standard & Poor's 500 Index.