Several models sell out in August

Chrysler Group LLC today reported a 5 percent sales increase compared with July 2009 despite low inventory levels on a number of popular nameplates.

Dealership traffic continued at a high level during the month of August, in part due to the U.S. government’s Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), more commonly known as “cash for clunkers.”

“Chrysler Group had another strong sales month in August with the majority of Chrysler Group nameplates posting year-over-year or month-over-month sales improvements,” Peter Fong, President and Chief Executive Officer–Chrysler Brand and Lead Executive for the Sales Organization, said. “The CARS program gave a boost to the industry in August, and as a result, we’ve increased production by more than 50,000 units, our factories are full-steam ahead building Chrysler, Jeep® and Dodge vehicles for customers and replenishing dealer inventories.”
The Chrysler Group reported total U.S. sales for August of 93,222 units, an increase of 5 percent compared with July and a decrease of 15 percent compared with the same time period in 2008. Retail sales for August were 68,958 units. The company finished the month with 100,238 units in inventory, representing a 28-day supply. Inventory is down 74 percent versus August 2008 when it totaled 380,560 units. Overall industry figures for August are projected to come in at an estimated 14.4 million annual sales rate.

“Chrysler Group’s large car, minivan, crossover and truck segments all posted increases in retail sales in August,” Steven Beahm, Vice President–Sales Operations, said. “The Dodge Avenger, Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler PT Cruiser were very popular with consumers looking for high-quality, fuel-efficient vehicles.”...More

Chrysler Group Sells Out of Many Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge Vehicles In August

Chrysler Group LLC reports August U.S. Sales Increases

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 1 /PRNewswire/ --

-- Chrysler Group LLC U.S. sales up 5 percent compared with previous
month
despite low inventory levels on several vehicles
-- Seventeen out of 26 nameplates post year-over-year and/or
month-over-month retail sales increases, including five out of six
Jeep(R) nameplates
-- Jeep Grand Cherokee sales up 62 percent versus previous year
-- Dodge Grand Caravan sales increase 13 percent compared with August
2008
-- Chrysler 300 sales increase 17 percent compared with August 2008
-- Chrysler PT Cruiser retail sales increase for second consecutive
month,
up 100 percent compared with August 2008

-- Mopar(R) parts and accessories sales increased 5 percent compared with
July


Chrysler Group LLC today reported a 5 percent sales increase compared with
July 2009 despite low inventory levels on a number of popular nameplates.
Dealership traffic continued at a high level during the month of August, in
part due to the U.S. government's Car Allowance Rebate System (CARS), more
commonly known as "cash for clunkers."

"Chrysler Group had another strong sales month in August with the majority of
Chrysler Group nameplates posting year-over-year or month-over-month sales
improvements," said Peter Fong, President and Chief Executive Officer-Chrysler
Brand and Lead Executive for the Sales Organization, Chrysler Group LLC. "The
CARS program gave a boost to the industry in August, and as a result, we've
increased production by more than 50,000 units, our factories are full-steam
ahead building Chrysler, Jeep(R) and Dodge vehicles for customers and
replenishing dealer inventories."

Chrysler Group reported total U.S. sales for August of 93,222 units, an
increase of 5 percent compared with July and a decrease of 15 percent compared
with the same time period in 2008. Retail sales for August were 68,958 units.
The company finished the month with 100,238 units in inventory, representing a
28-day supply. Inventory is down 74 percent versus August 2008 when it totaled
380,560 units. Overall industry figures for August are projected to come in at
an estimated 14.4 million SAAR.

"Chrysler Group's large car, minivan, crossover and truck segments all posted
increases in retail sales in August," said Steven Beahm, Vice President-Sales
Operations, Chrysler Group LLC. "The Dodge Avenger, Dodge Grand Caravan and
Chrysler PT Cruiser were very popular with consumers looking for high-quality,
fuel-efficient vehicles."

August Brand Sales Highlights

-- Seventeen out of 26 nameplates posted year-over-year and/or
month-over-month retail sales increases, including five out of six
Jeep
nameplates. Nameplates with increased retail sales are:
-- Chrysler Sebring Sedan/Convertible, Chrysler 300, Chrysler PT
Cruiser, Chrysler Town & Country, Jeep Wrangler, Jeep Liberty,
Jeep Compass, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Commander, Dodge Caliber,
Dodge Avenger, Dodge Charger, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Journey,
Dodge
Dakota, Dodge Ram and Dodge Sprinter
-- Jeep Grand Cherokee U.S. sales increased 62 percent (7,679 units)
compared with August 2008 and 118 percent versus the previous month
-- Chrysler 300 U.S. sales increased 17 percent versus August 2008 (4,320
units) and increased 88 percent versus July
-- Chrysler PT Cruiser retail sales were up 100 percent (3,819 units)
compared with August 2008 and increased 45 percent compared with July.
August is the second consecutive month of year-over-year sales
increases
for Chrysler PT Cruiser
-- Dodge Grand Caravan U.S. sales were up 13 percent (10,648 units)
compared with August 2008 and increased 27 percent versus July,
representing the second consecutive month of sales increases
-- Dodge Avenger U.S. sales increased 16 percent (4,118 units) compared
with August 2008
-- Mopar(R) parts and accessories sales increased 5 percent compared with
July

-- Mopar introduces new accessories that will help consumers Refresh
their
Ride, including: New Garmin(TM) nuvi(R) navigation systems, new Jeep
Wrangler door kits and 2010 MY Dodge Ram chrome accessories


Incentives

Chrysler Group LLC today announced the following incentives valid today
through September 30, 2009:

2009 Model Year Vehicles:
Chrysler Group is pleased to offer 0 percent financing for up to 72 months
through GMAC Financial Services or up to $4,500 Consumer Cash on select 2009
model year Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles.

2010 Model Year Vehicles:
On select 2010 model Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles, limited Consumer Cash
of up to $2,000 or attractive financing rates through GMAC Financial Services
are available.

About Chrysler Group LLC
Chrysler Group LLC, formed in 2009 from a global strategic alliance with Fiat
Group, produces Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Mopar and Global Electric Motors (GEM)
brand vehicles and products. With the resources, technology and worldwide
distribution network required to compete on a global scale, the alliance
builds on Chrysler's culture of innovation - first established by Walter P.
Chrysler in 1925 - and Fiat's complementary technology - from a company whose
heritage dates back to 1899.

Headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich., Chrysler Group LLC's product lineup
features some of the world's most recognizable vehicles, including the
Chrysler 300, Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Ram. Fiat will contribute world-class
technology, platforms and powertrains for small- and medium-sized cars,
allowing Chrysler Group to offer an expanded product line including
environmentally friendly vehicles

Dodge Ram pickup is only new Chrysler for '10

Chrysler has only one all-new vehicle for 2010 but is adding fuel-efficient versions of existing products and making more features standard in a lineup that must carry it through next year.

Competes with: Ford F-Series, Chevy Silverado
Looks like: A bigger version of the redesigned Ram 1500
Drivetrain: 383-hp, 6.7-liter diesel

United Way to get $525,000 from Chrysler PAC

Money in Chrysler's dormant political action committee fund totaling $525,000 will be donated to the United Way, The Detroit News has learned.
Click Here For More

Chrysler may be ending partnership in Dundee | Detroit Free Press | Freep.com

Chrysler Group LLC has removed logos of Hyundai and Mitsubishi from the entrance of the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance plant in Dundee, in an apparent move to end the four-year-old partnership and take full control of the factory.

Chrysler spokesmen declined to confirm that the partners' logos were removed or that the partnership is being dissolved. Hyundai and Mitsubishi also had no comment. But employees at the plant, who asked not to be named, said Chrysler executives have communicated their intent to end the alliance.
Chrysler may be ending partnership in Dundee | Detroit Free Press | Freep.com

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Chrysler absent from buzz on electric cars

Among Chrysler Group's toughest challenges in life after bankruptcy is changing the perception that it lags competitors in bringing affordable small or midsize hybrid electric vehicles to market.

Last September, Chrysler said the first of its battery-powered ENVI models, which contain a small gasoline engine, would reach showrooms by the end of 2010. Three other electric vehicles were to be introduced by 2013.

But today, it is unclear whether new CEO Sergio Marchionne, who has been actively revamping Chrysler's product plans, remains committed to that plan. Fiat, like many European automakers, including Chrysler's former owner, Daimler AG, has been more committed to diesels than hybrids or electric models....More

Big 3 sales fade as 'clunkers' wraps up

Low inventories cited in sinking U.S. share of incentive program

David Shepardson / Detroit News Washington Bureau

Washington -- The Detroit Three automakers' share of "cash for clunkers" sales fell sharply, compared to foreign nameplates, in the final week of the $3 billion incentive program.

General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC sold 38.6 percent, or about 266,000 of the nearly 700,000 clunker replacements. That's far below their combined 45.3 percent share of 2009 auto sales.

The U.S.-based companies said they were hampered by a comparative shortage of small, fuel-efficient vehicles that buyers were seeking and that the Asian automakers provided....Freep--More

Marchionne makes himself at home with new condo

Sergio Marchionne is a man with two jobs and now two homes on two continents.

The chief executive officer of Chrysler Group LLC in Auburn Hills and Fiat SpA in Turin, Italy, has purchased a condo in Metro Detroit, where he is spending a lot of time restructuring the ailing U.S. automaker.

Purchasing a place to call home in Birmingham can be seen as a commitment to the area as well as to the automaker, which was not the case with the last man whose job it was to turn Chrysler around.

Marchionne "needs to be visible," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor. "If he's going to be CEO, he needs to be here."
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Nissan, Chrysler cancel deal | The Detroit News

Nissan Motor Co. and Chrysler Group LLC have dropped their plans to produce vehicles for each other.

The two automakers agreed early last year to pool their volumes in the full-size pickup and subcompact segments, but doubts about the projects arose after Chrysler teamed up with Italy's Fiat SpA.

"For the past several months, teams from both companies have been studying the viability of the projects in light of significant changes in business conditions since the projects were announced," the two automakers said in a joint statement.

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"Today, it was decided it was in the best interests of both companies to end the projects."

Last year, before Chrysler joined forces with Fiat, it agreed to produce a full-size pickup for Nissan, while the Japanese automaker agreed to make two subcompacts for Chrysler.

But Fiat, a small car specialist, will provide Chrysler with small-car underpinnings and sell at least one of its own cars, the 500, in the United States.

Nissan, Chrysler cancel deal | detnews.com | The Detroit News

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Sterling Heights may be leased from New Chrysler

(Bloomberg) -- Chrysler Group LLC, the U.S. automaker Fiat SpA controls, may delay closing the plant that makes its mid-size sedans for at least a year until the company creates new models, people familiar with the situation said.

The factory in Sterling Heights, Michigan, may be leased from Old Carco LLC, Chrysler’s predecessor now in bankruptcy, to keep making the Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring after a production accord ends next year, said three people, who declined to be named because the matter isn’t final.

The potential delay reflects the difficulty the combined company faces in retooling existing factories and making new models. The plant is the only Chrysler site that manufactures - mid-size sedans, and the company hasn’t said whether it will shift production or phase out Avenger and Sebring.
Chrysler Said to Consider Keeping Plant Open for Mid-Size Cars - Bloomberg.com

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Fiat 500 to test Chrysler

Chrysler Canada Inc. plans to begin selling the Fiat 500 subcompact in early 2011, providing an early test of how the alliance between the two auto makers will address the most glaring problem at the No. 3 Detroit company: the collapse in sales of its passenger cars.
Fiat 500 to test Chrysler - The Globe and Mail

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Jim Press To Leave Chrysler

DETROIT -- Chrysler Group LLC Deputy Chief Executive Jim Press is planning to leave the auto maker before the end of the year, according to three people who have been informed of the plan.

Mr. Press, a former star at Toyota Motor Corp., was the sole member of Chrysler's top executive ranks to be retained after the company emerged from a federally funded bankruptcy in June. He was kept on as a special adviser to Sergio Marchionne, who now serves as CEO of both Chrysler and its partner, Fiat SpA.

.Mr. Press, 62 years old, is expected to leave Chrysler by the end of November, according to one of the people informed of the plan.

Chrysler spokesman Gualberto Ranieri declined to comment. A spokeswoman for the U.S. Treasury, which brokered the Fiat alliance as part of the government's bailout of Chrysler, also declined comment.

Chrysler's Creditors Sue Daimler Over Transfers Before 2007 Sale

David McLaughlin

Chrysler's creditors say German auto maker Daimler AG intentionally defrauded them through a restructuring of Chrysler on the eve of its 2007 sale.

In a new lawsuit filed against Daimler, the creditors offer new details about their claims that Daimler stripped Chrysler of billions of dollars in assets for its own benefit before unloading the struggling U.S. auto maker.


"These exchanges enriched Daimler at the expense of the many Chrysler creditors who now are unable to look to these assets to satisfy their claims," the creditors said in the complaint.

The lawsuit, filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Manhattan Monday, comes after a judge ruled last Thursday that committee representing Chrysler's unsecured creditors could sue Daimler in an effort to increase their recovery from Chrysler's bankruptcy case.

A Daimler spokeswoman, Julia Engelhardt, said the claims in the lawsuit "are without merit."

"We will vigorously defend ourselves against these claims, which we believe are completely baseless," she said.

Creditors say that in early 2007, as Chrysler struggled under a heavy debt load and falling auto sales, Daimler faced the risk that it could be on the hook for billions of dollars in Chrysler obligations, including $17.5 billion for retiree health benefits and $5 billion in unfunded pension costs.

To avoid this risk, Daimler decided to unload Chrysler, which it bought in 1998. But before doing that, creditors say, it orchestrated the restructuring plan in the spring of 2007.

Under the plan, Daimler transferred valuable Chrysler assets to other Daimler-controlled entities. It also left assets in the group of Chrysler companies but separated them so they were no longer subject to claims from creditors, making them more valuable.

The lawsuit says the "most egregious" of these steps came when Daimler transferred Chrysler's most valuable business - its U.S. and Canadian financing subsidiaries - to a new Chrysler holding company.

By becoming a sister company of Chrysler rather than a subsidiary, the finance arm escaped potential creditor claims, according to the lawsuit. As a result, Daimler got a "substantially better price" for Chrysler when it sold an 80% stake to Cerberus Capital Management in 2007 for $7.4 billion.

After filing for bankruptcy in April, the bulk of Chrysler assets were sold to a new company owned by Fiat SpA, the U.S. and Canadian governments and the United Auto Workers union.

Besides Daimler, the lawsuit names four former members of Chrysler's board of directors. The complaint seeks unspecified damages.

Lawyers for the creditors committee say any proceeds from the lawsuit would go to paying off creditors, a group that includes the U.S. government and secured lenders that received $2 billion from the bankruptcy sale, giving them a recovery of about 29 cents on the dollar.

Chrysler to make Fiat in Mexico: report

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Chrysler Group is planning to produce Fiat SpA's (FIA.MI) Fiat 500 subcompact at a Chrysler plant in Mexico, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.
Chrysler is also considering what other Fiat models to introduce to the U.S. market, under directions from its Italian partner, the paper reported on its website on Sunday.

Plans also include making a small Fiat engine for the 500 at a Chrysler plant in Trenton, Michigan, and building a Fiat-derived compact car slightly larger than the 500 in the United States, a source told the paper.

The Toluca, Mexico plant, which currently makes the Dodge Journey crossover and PT Cruiser, is an attractive home for the 500 because cars could be exported to South and Central America where the Fiat brand is popular, the Journal reported.

Fiat acquired a 20 percent stake in Chrysler and entered into agreements to give it access to Fiat technology and platforms. Chrysler filed for bankruptcy in April.

Chrysler representatives were not immediately available for comment

Fiat to takeover historic carmaker Bertone to design future cars for Chrysler

MILAN (AP) — The Italian automaker Fiat on Thursday won a bid to take over the bankrupt Italian car company Bertone, which will help design cars for the U.S. automaker Chrysler, the Italian Economic Development Ministry said.

Fiat, which owns a controlling stake in Chrysler, has pledged to invest euro150 million over the next three years in Bertone, representing the best offer for investors, the ministry said.

Bertone has specialized designing cars over its 97-year history for such brands as Fiat, Ferrari, Alfa Romeo and Lamborghini.

"The sale to Fiat guarantees the future of a historic Piemontese company. In fact, the plan foresees the reabsorption of 1,137 workers, who will be gradually reinserted into their jobs, and the integration with Chrysler for the production in Italy of some models for the American auto company," Economic Development Minister Claudio Scajola said in a statement.

Fiat took a 20-percent controlling stake in Chrysler in June, and its CEO Sergio Marchionne is running both automakers. The deal was based on the transfer to Chrysler of clean-engine and small-car technology, but Marchionne has recently said that he underestimated the value of Chrysler technology, knowledge and platforms for Fiat.


Among the models designed by Bertone are the Opel Astra, Alfa Romeo 2600 Sprint, the Fiat Punto Cabriolet and the BMW Garmisch 2200Ti, the forerunner of the BMW 5-series.

Bertone filed for bankruptcy protection in 2007, and stayed away from the Geneva Auto Show last year for the first time in more than 50 years due to its financial constraints.