Fiat Acquires 35% Stake in Chrysler

With $1.5 billion in federal loan money on the way, Chrysler LLC rolled out an array of financing options including 0 percent to lure customers back into dealerships.

Chrysler is offering 0 percent financing for up to 60 months on many 2009 and 2008 models effective tomorrow.

“We can now buy credit and get customers in the 620 [credit score] range, which dramatically opens the footprint of customers who can buy from our dealers,” said Jim Press, Chrysler co-president, in a conference call with reporters this afternoon.

Press said that Chrysler Financial has “virtually not been able to be active in retail credit in last 30 to 45 days at all.”

Steven Landry, executive vice president for North American sales and service, said: “Dealers told us after December that not having Chrysler Financial cost us 20 to 25 percent sales. We could see a significant lift.”

Vehicles included in the 0 percent programs include the Chrysler Town and Country minivan and 300 and 300C cars; Jeep Grand Cherokee, Commander and Wrangler SUVs; and Dodge Grand Caravan minivan, Ram 1500 pickup and heavy-duty trucks, and Charger, Magnum and Challenger cars.

Landry said Chrysler will launch advertising either Sunday or Monday “to let our customers know that things are alive and well at Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge.”

The loan announcement came a day after Chrysler announced it was extending shutdowns at some of its factories by an extra week.

Bloomberg

Chrysler LLC, pruning its lineup to save money, will stop building the PT Cruiser this year and is seeking buyers for the equipment used to make the model, PresidentTom LaSorda said.

Production “ends this summer,” LaSorda said today in a telephone interview. “Would we sell those assets? Yes. Do we have any offers to sell those assets? No. Would we be pursuing a buyer? Yes.”

The PT Cruiser, with a rounded body to mimic 1930s-style station wagons, would be the seventh model to be canceled since Cerberus Capital Management LP bought Chrysler in August 2007. The third-largest U.S. automaker is using $4 billion in federal loans to stay in business while reshaping operations to end losses.

Classified as a truck, the PT Cruiser has four passenger doors and a liftgate at the back. The model once targeted to appeal to younger buyers instead ended up attracting older consumers looking for a cargo-hauling vehicle, Wolkonowicz said.

U.S. sales of the PT Cruiser plunged 49 percent last year to 50,910 units, outpacing Chrysler’s 30 percent slide and the 18 percent tumble in the domestic auto market. Deliveries peaked at 144,717 in 2001, according to Autodata Corp. in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.

Chrysler builds the PT Cruiser at an assembly plant in Toluca, Mexico.

The 200C EV is an extended-range vehicle powered by an electric motor assisted by a small gasoline engine. The vehicle can drive for 40 miles on the electric motor alone, and over 400 miles when assisted by the gas motor. The styling is based on the 300C, but it was modified slightly to reduce wind resistance and improve efficiency. Inside, the car features a multimedia touch screen instead of the usual array of buttons. It also comes with a tablet pc for the passenger, will be networked to other vehicles, and will allow parents to set limits to their kids’ driving range.

Chrysler 200C EV

The 200C EV is not likely to go into production soon, as it is still a fairly new concept, but it does show Chrysler’s commitment to push for more efficient good-looking vehicles. According to Chrysler, they expect to have around 500,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2013.

Chrysler 200C EV

This year’s North American International Auto Show was expected to be a low-key affair, with the industry facing their most difficult year in decades. It is in fact unlikely that the show will be the same in years to come. But for now, it is good to know that the industry has realized that their next generation vehicles must be as green as they can be.

Chrysler 200C EV Rear Side View

 

Chrysler was quick to throw water on reports Wednesday that Jeep and other assets are on the chopping block, sticking to CEO Bob Nardelli’s insistence over the weekend that the company is not preparing for a fire sale.

In what’s shaping up to be an ongoing whirlwind of speculation as to the eventual fate of Chrysler, Reuters reported that the company is discussing the sale of its marquee Jeep nameplate to the Renault-Nissan (NSANY) partnership as well as other moves like handing over its PT Cruiser model to emerging Chinese automakers.

Shortly thereafter, Chrysler Vice Chairman and President Tom LaSorda refuted the reports in a press conference, telling reporters that Jeep is not for sale nor does Chrysler have plans to sell plants or separate any brands from the company.

But a big merger, like the one mulled between Chrysler and General Motors Corp. (GM) late last year, is what Sen. Bob Corker, a Tennessee Republican and vocal auto industry critic, suggested on Tuesday would make Chrysler more viable.

Corker attended the Detroit auto show this week to meet with representatives from the domestic automakers, which will have to prove to the government at the end of March that the $17.4 billion in loans extended to GM and Chrysler are being put to good use.

A merger, however, would fly in the face of what Nardelli told reporters from the sidelines of the Detroit auto show on Sunday. He said recent white collar layoffs and senior executive departures are not moves aimed at making the ailing automaker more attractive to suitors.

He also warned that Chrysler’s cash supply is dwindling to a low point in January and the company and its Cerberus Capital Management owner is looking to get their hands on the remaining $3 billion in loans that the government agreed to last month.

Maybe you never even heard of it. The 215-horsepower Crossfire, available as a coupe and roadster, was launched in 2004. Hailed as the first car to highlight the enormous “synergies” between Daimler and Chrysler, it is now a glaring emblem of the failed merger.

Back in 2003, Daimler managers touted the Crossfire as a halo-model for Chrysler. The Crossfire shared many components with the first-generation Mercedes SLK and was built for DaimlerChrysler by Karmann in Germany. The idea was to blend German engineering and American automotive style. Above all, it was to lend the ailing American automaker real German sportscar cache.

But alas, the Crossfire concept was as flawed as the merger. No one who wants a racy European sportscar buys a Chrysler, no matter where it is made or how many parts it shares with a Mercedes. And Americans aren’t into paying big bucks for a bit of German halo. In addition, the steering is lackluster and the ride was unremarkable (according to Edmunds.com). Hence, the halo never appeared in sufficient numbers for anyone to see it.

Total production plummeted from 35,600 cars in 2003 to 12,500 in 2005. I can’t find 2006 numbers, but the car was discontinued in the US in 2007, so they much have been disastrous. The only remaining question is how much the discarded cross-breeding experiment cost.

via [businessweek.com]

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