The Fiat 500 will be sold via select Chrysler dealerships.

Joined at the hip with Fiat AG, the Chrysler Group, LLC has the responsibility for marketing Fiat products in America including the popular Fiat 500 subcompact scheduled to show up stateside before the year is out.

Fiat Experience

But Chrysler has more than enough Chrysler dealers to handle these cars and will be limiting who sells these vehicles. On August 30, Chrysler will be holding and event — Fiat Experience — to outline its Fiat plans with about 600 invited Chrysler dealers. Those dealers, from 41 states and 119 markets will be learn about Chrysler’s plans and be able to apply for the rights to sell Fiats in September with Chrysler deciding by early October who will market the brand.

Even though there are just a few months between dealer acceptance and product launch, Chrysler will not allow dealers to show the Fiat 500 next to Chrysler products with the expectation that as the brand grows dedicated space for Fiat products will be developed.

“The requirements for Fiat are straightforward: separate sales and display at launch, transitioning to a full dealership facility as the volume grows,” said Peter Grady, Chrysler Group’s Vice President of Network Development and Fleet. “Our goal is to establish a retail network appropriately sized to serve the market opportunity.”

No Market

Alaska, Vermont, New Hampshire, South Carolina and the Dakotas are states who will not see Fiat dealerships, at least from the onset. However, with Chrysler actively looking at large metro areas for Fiat, Charlotte covers much of South Carolina while Vermont Fiat lovers can travel to Springfield, MA if they want their Italian ride.

The first Fiat 500 models to be sold stateside are the hatchback, built at Chrysler’s Toluca, Mexico facility. Follow up models will include a convertible and four-door hatchback.

Alfa Romeo

Motor Trends reports that winning Chrysler dealerships may also get the chance to sell the Alfa Romeo brand when it hits the market in 2012 or they may get additional Fiat models if the brand catches on.

In any case, dealers will at least have the Fiat 500 to sell regardless of how things shake out over the coming years, a boutique car some have compared to the MINI Cooper and Volkswagen Beetle, at least in visual appeal.

Invited Chrysler dealers were notified by email on Monday. The invitation came from Grady and Laura Soave, Head of Fiat North America.

Source and Photo: Chrysler Group, LLC

PT Cruiser

The Chrysler PT Cruiser was introduced in 2000 and was for a time a revolutionary model and a hot seller. Based on the same platform underpinning the Dodge Neon, the Chrysler PT Cruiser was not easily confused with any other model on the road.

Indeed, the car’s success brought forth at least one copycat, the Chevrolet HHR.  That was an interesting move as Chrysler has always been more likely to copy General Motors than the other way around, but GM couldn’t allow the PT Cruiser’s success to go unanswered. Word has it that the HHR isn’t long for this life as the Chevrolet Cobalt platform on which it is based is going out of production.

Retro R.I.P.

This week, the Detroit Free Press (Freep) launched a 38-photo slide show tribute to the Chrysler P.T. Cruiser while reporting that July 9 will be the final assembly day for this model.

Freep offered differing statistics for the number of P.T. Cruiser built, mentioning 1.3 million in their article and 1.5 million cars in their slide show. No matter, this model was popular for a season and was the best selling Chrysler brand vehicle in some years.

Aged Product

The main reason for the P.T. Cruiser’s demise can be attributed to one thing: the car was the same throughout its entire 11-year model run. Other than some cosmetic changes, the release of specially equipped models and a convertible, the P.T. Cruiser remained unchanged. That represents certain death in the auto industry where five- to six-year product cycles are the norm.

Chrysler’s financial woes have loomed large too as the company put money into its most popular product, its Dodge (Ram) pickup trucks and other best sellers.  With very little money available, dragging out the P.T. Cruiser for a few more years meant that the model could live on. However, fewer than 6,000 P.T. Cruisers have been sold thus far in 2010.

Look for Chrysler to replace the P.T. Cruiser with a Lancia-inspired model within the next year. In the meantime, the Chrysler 300C is up for a makeover, another aged model sorely in need to a refreshening.

Yes, Fiat has decided that as far it becoming an international brand, Chrysler isn’t going to enjoy that distinction. Instead, Chrysler models will be sold mostly in North America only while these same models will be known as Lancia, at least throughout Europe.

Network Implosion

Fiat S.p.A., the conglomerate which owns or controls Lancia and Chrysler respectively, has notified 1,200 Chrysler and Lancia dealers across Europe that their contracts will expire in less than one year on May 31, 2011, to be precise.

That move will help Fiat create a single sales force for the unified Chrysler-Lancia entity with a new European dealer network comprised of 800 dealers and 1,000 dealerships.  The Lancia name, which isn’t known in Ireland and the United Kingdom, will not appear there. Those cars will still be sold as Chryslers.

Wither Chrysler

Chrysler doesn’t have much of a presence in Europe as it sold just 11,500 models there in 2009. The Jeep and Dodge brands are sold in Europe too and will continue to be marketed under their own monikers. Dodge, however, will become a niche brand with just three sporty models offered: the burly Charger sedan, Challenger pony car and the Viper sportscar. Jeep will be sold as it has been, rolling out new products across Europe as it does in North America.

Lancia isn’t much of a force in Europe, with 85-90 percent of their cars sold in Italy. Combined, Lancia-Chrysler sold 132,500 units across Europe in 2009 with Fiat expecting that number to increase to 300,000 units annually by 2014.

Voyager Minivan

Chrysler vehicles slated to be sold under the Lancia moniker include the Town & Country which will be called the Voyager in Europe. The Voyager name goes back to Plymouth days though it was briefly a Chrysler model when Plymouth closed down in 2001.

Lancia will also get the 300C and the replacements for Chrysler’s PT Cruiser compact panel van model and its midsize Chrysler Sebring model. The latter two, incidentally, are being built on Fiat platforms same as Lancia.

When the dust settles, Fiat hopes that Lancia will be a stronger brand across Europe while Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep will benefit from Fiat-derived platforms. The Fiat 500 will be sold in the United States, perhaps opening the door for additional Fiat brand models to be sold in North America.

Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge & Ram models are on sale this month.

There is a new found swagger being seen around the hallways of the executive offices at Chrysler’s Auburn Hills headquarters. That’s because America’s most beleaguered automaker found a way to sell more cars in April 2010 than they did one year earlier, netting a nice 24.8 percent increase for the month and putting Chrysler ahead of the game for the year.

Bottom Up

Sure, Chrysler’s sales rose in comparison to when they hit rock bottom in 2009, just ahead of its summer bankruptcy filing. But the automaker managed to close the gap between it and Honda while holding off Nissan who seems to have found its own mojo lately.

Until this past month, Chrysler has been looking and acting every bit the problem plagued automaker that it is. Though now under the tutelage of Fiat, the Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge model lines are aged and in desperate need of updating. The 2011 Jeep Grand Cherokee is now in production with an all new Chrysler 300C due out this November. In December, the first Italian import arrives when the Fiat 500 goes on sale through select dealerships.

Product Mix

Chrysler is not completely devoid of products consumers want with its minivans still packing a punch and its Ram line of trucks continuing to finish a strong third in an ultra competitive five (or six) full-sized model horse race. Even its aged midsize Chrysler Sebring and Dodge Avenger sedans sold well last month thanks to deep incentives designed to move these models as well as fleet sales.

Today, Chrysler announced that they are going all out for customers, offering zero percent financing for 60 months on most 2010 Jeep, Dodge and Chrysler models when customers finance these cars through GMAC Financial Services. Those buyers wanting to stretch out their financing to 72 months can do so at an ultra-low 1.9 percent rate. Or, buyers can choose to receive as much as $3000 customer cash instead of the financing deal.

Deep Discounts

Three Jeep models—Liberty, Grand Cherokee and Commander—offer $4000 customer cash or zero percent financing for sixty months. The Liberty and Commander have been slow sellers for Jeep while the 2010 Grand Cherokee will be replaced this summer with an all new model. Special deals also apply to most Chrysler, Dodge, and Ram vehicles; check out this press release for more information.

If you are planning to buy a new Chrysler product and are in need of financing, shop around for a rate first. No, you won’t find zero percent financing elsewhere, but you may find a rate low enough making taking the customer cash a better deal. In any case use an auto loan calculator such as one offered by Edmunds to figure out the best course of action for you.

Chrysler plans to end its current discounting plan on June 1, 2010.

2010 PT Cruiser Couture Edition

In dire need of fresh products to attract customers, but with nothing new to offer, the Chrysler Group is in sad shape. That desperation is all the more evident in recently updated product offerings unveiled this week across its Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Chrysler lines.

Instead of bringing forth all new models or making significant mid-cycle changes, the product poor Chrysler Group is making do with what it has by offering new packages based on old themes. Long awaited all new models underpinned by Fiat technology are still more than a year away, but the automaker hopes that customers will flock to showrooms based on its repackaged offerings.

Will this move work or will it hurt Chrysler’s image?

The Chrysler Group recently separated its Ram truck line from Dodge, a curious move to say the least. All four brands are offering special or limited edition models many of which were announced yesterday in advance of next week’s North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit. Supposedly, these “new” models will be on display when the show kicks off to media on Monday.

But the changes are mostly cosmetic including the Chrysler PT Cruiser Couture Edition, representing Chrysler’s feeble attempt to modify its woefully outdated retro model first introduced in 1999. That PT Cruiser, riding on the extinct Dodge Neon platform, was killed off by Chrysler and later resurrected by Fiat once Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy protection this past summer and was placed in Fiat’s arms. Fiat wanted to keep the PT Cruiser around given that the Chrysler Group’s small car line up had one car left: the Dodge Caliber.

Chrysler describes the latest limited edition PT Cruiser as offering a bold look featuring exterior changes such as “chromed body-side moldings, door handles, 16-inch polished aluminum wheels.” Inside, “chromed detail rings” and “all-new Radar Red leather or Dark Slate Gray seats” highlight this edition’s offerings. The car will go on sale later this quarter for $19,995.

Other changes include:

• The Dodge Caliber receives a redesigned interior.

• The Chrysler 300 gains a pair of new models – S6 and S8, vehicles featuring “blacked-out grilles with chromed surround and body-color fascia accents.”

• Jeep expands the lines of two of its models by introducing the Liberty Renegade as well as the Wrangler Islander and Wrangler Mountain editions, the latter sporting 32 inch tires.

• Dodge Nitro receives changes to sub-model names with Heat, Detonator and Shock emphasizing updates to exterior styling as well as standard equipment changes and a new safety package.

Other changes involve several Dodge models including Avenger, Journey, Challenger, and Viper, as well as for the Chrysler Town & Country.

If Chrysler can hold off for a year, the Fiat 500 will soon be available through select dealers followed by a bevy of new cars, riding on Fiat platforms. But with sales off by 36 percent last year and market share sinking rapidly, time is not on Chrysler’s side nor does it have new vehicles to sustain itself through what promises to be yet another challenging year.

Photo Credit & Source: Chrysler Group LLC

Old Meets New: 26 years of minivan building has yielded 12 million Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth models. Along with the Ram truck, Chrysler's minivans are a money maker for the automaker.

The twin pillars holding up Chrysler these days are its burly Ram truck line and time honored minivans. That may not sound like much, but when you’re remaking yourself post-bankruptcy and lacking fresh product for consumption, you have to see what works. Pickup trucks remain popular and, surprisingly, the minivan market has bottomed out and stabilized giving industry leader Chrysler a chance to promote one of its chief money makers in the years ahead.

Still Leading The Market

Through September, Chrysler has sold more than 125,000 minivans and still controls 40% of the market with its Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan models. The Honda Odyssey (now the best selling name plate) and Toyota Sienna have made significant in-roads and are considered to have higher quality ratings than the Chrysler products, but Chrysler is holding its own and looking to gain sales.

After a horrible summer when Chrysler filed for bankruptcy and shut down production in order to reduce inventory and slash expenses, the sales slide has stopped while minivan demand has risen. Indeed, in September Chrysler began to build minivans for overseas markets, equipping some with right hand drive and adding diesel engines (2.8L CRD).

Overseas Market Gains

Outside of North America the “Chrysler Grand Voyager” is available in more than eighty countries, with 21,513 units sold abroad in 2008 alone. To date, more than 12 million Chrysler, Dodge and Plymouth (Voyager) minivans have been built, with the Windsor, Ontario factory producing today’s models and is currently the only Chrysler plant where all three shifts are in operation.

According to The Detroit News, minivans will continue to hold three to four percent of the car market through 2016, as demand for crossovers continues to rise while SUV sales slide. Fortunately for Chrysler, no new minivans are entering the market this year, although Ford will lead the charge with the C-MAX in 2011, a mini minivan from Europe. Around that same time, GM will roll out the Chevrolet Orlando, a mini minivan based on the Chevy Cruze platform.

Smaller Chrysler Vans

Down the line, Chrysler will likely produce a smaller van to compete in the smaller van segment, using a Fiat platform to underpin the body. For now, Chrysler and Dodge dealers will need to work diligently to market what they have, giving the edge to Dodge which has both the Grand Caravan and its line of Ram pickup trucks to draw crowds and to bolster company sales.

When Nissan and Chrysler began to make agreements with each other early on in 2008, I thought that their pending arrangements would be good for both companies. Taking Japan’s #3 automaker and putting it with America’s #3 automaker in order to build or share select models and parts seemed like a good idea to me. With Nissan being part of the Renault-Nissan juggernaut and Chrysler freed up from its awful relationship with Daimler, the move was well timed too.

The Ties That Unbind

Fast forward a full year and the global automotive landscape has changed sharply. Suddenly, China is the largest car market in the world, GM and Chrysler have been ushered through bankruptcy, Tata Motors now owns Jaguar and LandRover, while Mahindra & Mahindra will soon be selling its vehicle in the US market. Oh, by the way, Fiat now controls Chrysler which is yet another significant change.

The Nissan-Chrysler partnership came about shortly after Cerberus Capital Management, LP wrested control of Chrysler from Daimler in late 2007. By Spring 2008, the first product tie-ins between Nissan and Chrysler were announced and included the following arrangements:

• Nissan agreed to build a small car for Chrysler which was to be sold throughout much of Latin America. That model, supposedly a compact, would have helped Chrysler expand its reach in a booming, yet competitive market.

• Nissan agreed to supply the platform and quite possibly the entire body which was to replace the midsize Dodge Avenger and Chrysler Sebring sedans. That car was to be built at a Tennessee factory by Nissan for Chrysler.

• Chrysler agreed to supply the truck platform expected to underpin the next generation Nissan Titan, the automaker’s full sized truck. Based on the Ram platform, Nissan would use many Dodge components and quite possibly become the basis for the next generation Armada (big SUV).

Don’t Count Everything Dead Yet

The first two agreements are dead for the simple reason that Fiat will supply everything that Chrysler lacks going forward. However, the Dodge Ram-Nissan Titan deal could still come through especially since that plan wasn’t expected to begin until 2011.

Volume for the Titan is considered to be too low to justify making an all new model, thus Nissan will likely still need a partner or kill the model which is something the automaker insists won’t happen. Chrysler is the logical choice, so don’t kill this partnership off completely. At least just not yet.

Source: The Detroit News

See Also — Nissan, Chrysler Fuse Partnership

Turns out that at least 25 dealerships in the two Carolinas got hit, including Southern States Dodge in Raleigh, Johnson Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep in Durham, Goldsboro Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep and Williamson Motors in Clinton according to WRAL.com. I can’t say that any of thee surprised me, given that I pretty much know which dealerships near me seem to have the size to survive. Still, I am sure that it was a shock to dealership employees and owners that Chrysler LLC would be giving them the heave-ho.

One Quarter Of All Dealerships Must Close

All told, some 789 dealers will be shut down by Chrysler no later than June 9th, removing 25% of its total. Operating under federal bankruptcy protection, Chrysler is allowing dealers to appeal although for the lowest volume dealerships a stay of execution seems unlikely.

Yesterday morning, Chrysler filed paperwork with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking to reject certain U.S. dealer agreements, and a list of U.S. dealer agreements to be assigned to the buyer of its business assets. Those dealerships who pass muster will become part of Chrysler’s pending alliance with Fiat once the sale is complete.

In response to the pending closure and loss of jobs, Chrysler shared the following announcement:

“We are in the process of revitalizing Chrysler’s business to succeed as a viable enterprise under new ownership in the future,” said Jim Press, Vice Chairman and President. “The unprecedented decline in the industry has had a significant impact on our sales and forced us to reduce production levels to better match the needs of the market. With the downsizing of operations after the sale and reduction of plants and production, similar reductions must be made to the size of the dealer body. We appreciate the support of our dealers and regret this painful action. We wish market conditions made it possible to keep everyone.”

Company Sets Up A Special Website

To help shepherd Chrysler through bankruptcy, the company has set up a special website, ChryslerRestructuring.com, to disseminate information about the changes coming forth.  On that site visitors can pull up key documents, review filed claims & schedules and see other details related to the bankruptcy filing.

Source: Chrysler LLC

Chrysler LLC has reintroduced zero percent financing for qualified buyers. One of the models eligible for special financing is the Dodge Challenger.

In a bid to at least stabilize its free fall, Chrysler has rolled out zero percent financing for sixty months on a wide variety of 2008 and 2009 models. Thanks to a $1.5 billion federal loan to its financing unit, Chrysler Financial, the nation’s third largest automaker may have a compelling reason for buyers to consider a Dodge, Jeep or Chrysler product.

Chrysler suffered the most of all car companies last year when its US sales plunged by 30%, even dropping by 53% in December. Extremely tight credit shut many buyers out of the market while other potential buyers were certainly concerned about the automaker’s future.

Big Bucks For Chrysler Financial

With both GM and Chrysler issuing dire warnings last month that they would shut down by year end, purchasing a Chrysler product suddenly carried more risks with it than many consumers would want to assume. Thanks to the new loan deal for Chrysler Financial, that concern has been reduced at least for now.

The vehicles eligible for special zero percent financing include the following:

• Jeep: Wrangler, Grand Cherokee and Commander

• Dodge: Ram, Grand Caravan, Charger, Challenger and Magnum

• Chrysler: Town & Country and 300/300C

Up until recently, only buyers with a credit score of 700 or above were eligible for Chrysler financing, while the new financing deal captures consumers whose credit score is above 620. Leasing won’t be included with this offer as that is something the automaker pretty much abandoned back in August 2008.

March 31st Is An Important Date For Chrysler

Last month, Chrysler LLC was the beneficiary of a loan package totaling $4 billion which the company says will see through the first quarter. March 31st is the deadline for Chrysler to prove that it has a viable option going forward in order to be eligible for additional federal assistance.

If they cannot prove that they have the wherewithal to survive for the long term, Chrysler could be forced into structured bankruptcy by Congress. Likely, new car warranties would be protected, but the automaker could be dissolved and its assets sold off.

Source: Chrysler LLC

Introduced in August 2008, production for the Chrysler Aspen Hybrid and Dodge Durango Hybrid will end this December when a Delaware factory shuts down.

I had to rifle through my archives to find out when I made the announcement that Chrysler LLC had rolled out hybrid versions of the Dodge Durango and Chrysler Aspen SUVs, quickly realizing that it was in June when I published prices ahead of their August release. But, that information is being overshadowed by updated news that Chrysler has announced the discontinuation of these two models. Huh?

Declining Sales, Shifting Demand

Citing declining SUV demand and poor sales, Chrysler is ending production of its only two hybrid models, just two months after the first SUVs rolled off an assembly line. But, like so much else that is going on in the topsy-turvy auto industry, there are some underlying themes with the Chrysler announcement:

Chrysler Cans Its Big SUVs – The Durango and Aspen have been slow sellers and Chrysler LLC has no plans to continue the model line. In fact, the company recently announced that they would shut down a Delaware factory sooner than they had planned, the factory that produces these two SUV models.

Tepid Demand At Best – When Chrysler first planned hybrid versions of the Aspen and Durango, the market for larger SUVs was much better than it is today. Though SUV sales rose last month, the over saturated market is ripe for a shake out and financially shaky Chrysler is one of the first to beat a retreat.

Chrysler Is For Sale – The biggest factor in ending hybrid production could be Chrysler’s hopeful sale. General Motors, Renault, and Fiat have each expressed interest in the automaker, owned by private equity firm, Cerberus Capital Management, L.P. Cerberus doesn’t have the stomach for this industry and they want out. Hanging on to a money losing model makes no sense; the Aspen and Durango must go.

Though no one can say for certain what Chrysler’s outlook is for the long term, all isn’t wasted as the company plans to take its hybrid technology and apply it to its full sized pick up truck, the Dodge Ram. That move will depend on merger talks especially if GM successfully buys Chrysler. In that case, the Dodge Ram would likely disappear along with everything else from Chrysler save Jeep and perhaps the minivans.