Chrysler Ends Hybrid Durango, Aspen

Chrysler announced it will stop producing its first two hybrid-electric vehicles just as they have started to arrive on dealer’s showroom floors.

This year, Chrysler introduced the Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Durango Hemi hybrid SUVs. However, these new vehicles may have been doomed early on as both were made at Chrysler’s Newark, Del., plant, which was slated to close at the end of 2009.

But with the precipitous drop in SUV sales in North America, Chrysler moved the closing of the Newark plant up a year, to the end of 2008. Chrysler spokesman Todd Goyer has said the company has no plans to produce the hybrid SUVs anywhere else.

“Keeping the plant open for the hybrid versions isn’t a sound business decision,” he said.

Instead, the struggling automaker is focusing on the hybrid version of the Dodge Ram pickup, which is due in 2010, Goyer said.