Chrysler LLC Announces New “Employee Pricing Plus Plus” Program for All Customers

• New vehicle customers receive employee price on all 2008 and 2009 Chrysler, Jeep_® and Dodge vehicles
• Customers also receive discounts of up to $3,500 on 2009 model year vehicles and $6,000 on 2008 model year vehicles
• Zero percent financing is available for up to 48 months
• $1,000 consumer bonus cash is available on most models when financed at Chrysler Financial or local credit union
• New program is effective beginning on  Jan. 26, 2009

Auburn Hills, Mich., Jan 22, 2009  -  Chrysler LLC announced today that it will offer the new “Employee Pricing Plus Plus” program to all customers toward the purchase or lease of a new 2008 or 2009 Chrysler, Jeep_® or Dodge vehicle.  In addition to the employee price, customers will be eligible for cash discounts of up to $3,500 for 2009 model year vehicles and up to $6,000 on 2008 model year vehicles. Chrysler Financial is also offering zero percent financing to qualified customers for up to 48 months. Other finance terms and rates are also available.”Chrysler is offering America the same pricing our employees receive through the new ‘Employee Pricing Plus Plus’ program with great savings off the Manufacturers Suggested Retail Price, plus cash discounts of up to $3,500 on 2009 models, plus zero percent financing through Chrysler Financial,” said Steven Landry, Executive Vice President – North American Sales, Marketing, Mopar Parts and Service. ”With affordable financing available and some of the best pricing we have offered in recent months, this really is a great time to visit a Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge dealer.”

The “Employee Pricing Plus Plus” incentive program is available to all customers beginning on Mon., Jan. 26. Dodge Sprinter is not included in this program.

The new “Employee Pricing Plus Plus” program will be featured in a comprehensive ad campaign starting Jan. 26, and includes national print, broadcast and digital media. The overall campaign continues with the ”Driving America” theme combined with the newly available Employee Pricing.  

Chrysler LLC Announces January 2009 U.S. Sales

• Jeep® Wrangler sales increased 4 percent (6,362 units) compared to January 2008 (6,137 units).
• Dodge Journey sales continued to climb as sales reached 3,092 units.
• Dodge Challenger sales reached 2,757 units, up 6 percent over December 2008.
• Dodge Avenger sales increased 6 percent (2,171 units) versus December 2008.
• The Company finished the month with 359,980 units of inventory, or a 151-day supply. Inventory is down 13 percent compared with January 2008, when it totaled 413,874 units.

Auburn Hills, Mich., Feb 3, 2009  -  Chrysler LLC today reported total January 2009 U.S. sales of 62,157 units, down 55 percent versus the same month in 2008 (137,392 units), and down 31 percent from December 2008 (89,813 units). Total sales were suppressed by a significant reduction in fleet sales, which is aligned with the Company’s sales strategy helping to maintain or improve the overall residual value of Chrysler vehicles for our customers. Fleet sales were down 81 percent for January compared to the same time last year.“Chrysler LLC received the first $4 billion installment of our $7 billion bridge loan from the U.S. Treasury in early January,” said Jim Press, President and Vice Chairman – Chrysler LLC. “However, it wasn’t until later in the month that Chrysler Financial received its $1.5 billion loan, greatly enhancing its ability to support our dealers and provide credit to our customers. We were very encouraged and working closely with Chrysler Financial, were immediately able to introduce our zero percent financing for customers.”

Press emphasized the financial crisis still looms and must be modified to allow dealers to stock more vehicles and to provide customers with the financing to purchase those vehicles. “While the government has made funds available to stimulate the market, these funds carry limitations, including stringent lending guidelines and conduit restrictions. At the same time, many financial lenders are also operating with tighter standards and significantly increased reserves to hold their credit rating. All these factors have limited the amount of funds that the financial institutions can make available to consumers for the purchase of Chrysler vehicles, making it more difficult for us to close sales,” he said.

January Sales Highlights

• Jeep® Wrangler sales increased 4 percent (6,362 units) compared to January 2008 (6,137 units).
• Dodge Journey sales continued to climb as sales reached 3,092 units.
• Dodge Challenger sales reached 2,757 units, up 6 percent over December 2008.
• Dodge Avenger sales increased 6 percent (2,171 units) versus December 2008.
• The Company finished the month with 359,980 units of inventory, or a 151-day supply. Inventory is down 13 percent compared with January 2008, when it totaled 413,874 units.

“Consumer credit, versus consumer demand, influenced our January retail results. We saw a negative trend in December, we’re seeing it again this month and we could see it for the year. Many more consumers wanted to buy a vehicle than could qualify for financing under the current credit conditions,” said Steven Landry, Executive Vice President, Sales, Marketing, MOPAR Parts and Service. “But, even though the economic environment remains extraordinarily difficult, near the end of the month we began to gain some sales traction with zero percent financing available through Chrysler Financial, and the addition of our new Chrysler Employee Pricing Plus Plus incentive.”

Chrysler estimated in its submission to Congress last year that the industry would sell 11.1 million units during calendar year 2009. However, the Company currently believes that if the January trend for the SAAR continues, the industry could see 10 million units or fewer sold during the year, due to the reduction of consumer credit and tightening of the lending standards.

• Dealer retail was down 35 percent, compared to industry retail, which was down 30 percent.
• Fleet sales dropped 81 percent from last January, as outlined in the Company’s viability plan. 
• Inventory reduction and day supply was very helpful to our dealers in reducing floorplan costs. 

February Incentives

Chrysler LLC will continue the Employee Pricing Plus Plus program through February, which offers the employee price to all customers purchasing or leasing a new 2008 or 2009 Chrysler, Jeep® or Dodge vehicle. In addition to the employee price, customers are eligible for cash discounts of up to $3,500 for 2009 model year vehicles and up to $6,000 on 2008 model year vehicles. Chrysler Financial is also offering zero percent financing to qualified customers for up to 48 months. Other finance terms and rates are also available.

Chrysler LLC Dealers Deliver Main Street Message to Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., Nov 16, 2008  -  As the U.S. Congress considers support for the domestic automobile industry, a select group of Chrysler’s U.S. dealer network will visit Capitol Hill on Tuesday, November 18 and Wednesday, November 19 to discuss their concerns regarding the impact of the global financial and liquidity crisis in their communities across the country. The dealers will specifically voice their support for temporary financial assistance for the domestic auto industry.

Thirty-three dealers representing 25 states will make Capitol Hill visits to key Republican and Democrat Members of Congress, as well as to the Bush Administration. The group consists of Chrysler’s 18-member National Dealer Council, as well as 15 additional dealers who have requested to participate.

Three Chrysler dealer principles will hold a media roundtable on Monday, November 17 to discuss the dealers’ efforts to have their voices heard in Washington. The media roundtable will begin at 12:30 p.m. at the Capitol Hill office of NADA, 412 First Street SE, Second Floor.

FACTS ON CHRYSLER’S U.S. DEALER NETWORK 

• There are 3,372 Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealerships in the United States, directly employing more than 140,000 people (End of September 2008). 
• In 2007, Chrysler’s U.S. dealers generated $105 billion revenue. 
• In 2007, Chrysler’s U.S. dealers spent $575 million on advertising. 
• In 2008 through September, Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealers invested $132 million solely to upgrade their U.S. facilities.

Source: Chrysler Media Services

Credit Crunch Still Hurting Car Sales

A deteriorating U.S. economy combined with an ongoing credit crunch is darkening the credit outlook for the auto finance market well into 2009, said Moody’s Investors Service in a report on Tuesday.

“The sector is clearly under severe stress,” said Curt Beaudouin, vice president and analyst at Moody’s. He noted increasing delinquencies and write-downs of uncollectable debt, higher loss severities due to slumping used-car prices, as well as shrinking new vehicle sales.

The auto finance industry, which includes banks, independent finance companies and automaker-owned finance units or captives, has also been hurt by higher funding costs due to the credit crunch and depressed profitability due to greater auto loss provisions, he said.

The analyst said participating banks are less vulnerable to these mounting risks, and their auto lending is not a leading negative ratings driver.

“For none of these banks, however, is auto finance exposure a leading negative rating driver. They possess more diversified asset and earnings bases and are not tied to the manufacturers,” said Beaudouin.

Still, he said, auto finance will remain a difficult market for the banks. Their profit and/or asset quality potential will always be subordinated to the behavior of the captives, which they can’t control.
“Banks would like to exit the market, but there are no willing buyers for their auto operations. So, banks are withdrawing from the business by slowing originations and winding down portfolios,” said Beaudouin.

“The captives are — and will continue to be — more vulnerable to aggressive financing practices influenced by manufacturer sales targets; they are further weighed down by their monoline nature and heavy business concentrations with their troubled manufacturer affiliates,” said Beaudouin.

The same basic picture applies to the independent auto finance firms, he said.

“Their monoline (heavily subprime) nature and severely impaired wholesale funding model have caused retrenchment in the shrinking universe of independent auto finance companies,” said Beaudouin, “and this trend is expected to continue.”

Those exposures must now be worked through, he said.

“Buyers have simply bought too much vehicle, thereby increasing their debt burden,” said Beaudouin. “Auto lenders were enablers in this process, by offering increasingly aggressive financing terms and exposing themselves to increased severity of loss, in a phenomenon we refer to as ‘the trade-in treadmill,” said the analyst.

In addition, he said, the ongoing credit crunch, in place since the summer of 2007, has been hurting the cost and availability of funding for auto finance companies, while deteriorating economic conditions are taking a toll on the consumers, the used car market and new vehicles sales.

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