Chrysler Corp.'s new compact sedans will be the first mass-market cars since the days of crank-start engines to come off the assembly line without an ashtray.
The third-biggest U.S. automaker plans to offer the ashtray and a cigarette lighter as options on its sedans this year, making way for a coffee mug rest and a hookup for a cellular phone."Research shows that something like 78 percent of people who ride in cars don't smoke, so why should it be easier for the minority that does?" said Suzanne Hofmann, interior designer of the Chrysler Cirrus and Dodge Stratus.
The Cirrus and Stratus are due out this summer. Market research on the cars, and the 30-something engineers and designers who developed them, led Chrysler away from the tradition of making smoking convenient.
An extra cupholder will pop out of the dashboard unless customers ask for an ashtray. The hole for the lighter will be covered with a rubber plug, which can be removed to hook up a cellular phone or other device needing electrical power.
Chrysler executives said they plan to extend the ashtray-optional design to other new models, including a redesigned minivan due out next year.