Cheap gas not enough to drive sales, desirable cars needed too!
Chrysler is apparently learning the hard way that you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drive out in a new Sebring. The $2.99 per gallon gas price guarantee that Chrysler launched last month has apparently been insufficient to actually stimulate sales. People are coming into showrooms, but evidently even a cheap gas offer isn't enough to convince customers to buy Chrysler products. Even with the special deal, Chrysler's sales are apparently down 18-percent for May. We can't fathom why cheap gas wouldn't be adequate inducement to spend the next three years driving a Sebring or Jeep Compass, can you? Hopefully Chrysler will have better luck than GM moving the Durango and Aspen Hybrid when they launch in a few months, because not much else is selling right now.
[Source: Detroit News]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
BLS 8:19AM (6/05/2008)
The Sebring is the new K-Car. They have the Compass, Caliber, Patriot, Sebring, Avenger, and Journey. All off that platform. That would probably be fine but from what I read the interior is crap. Compass, Caliber, Sebring, and Avenger all look terrible.
For my personal taste that leaves Patriot and Journey a small SUV and a medium SUV (crossovers or whatever). When right now they need small cars and good sedans for the coming rush of people abandoning their behemoth SUVs.
Not being much of a sedan person (despite having one for for the last 4 years) The patriot and journey are almost the wagons that I wish they were so for a family car they would be worth a look (if my wife insists that we must have AWD). But I think I would be happy with a Cube or a Renault Kangoo.
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The Other Bob 12:52PM (6/05/2008)
The Caliber and Patriot are not on the same platform as the others.
psarhjinian 12:30PM (6/05/2008)
Which is also the same platform as the Evo. The platform isn't the problem, it's how Chrysler's perverted it.
Guenther 1:48PM (6/05/2008)
Perhaps you should wander by your friendly C/J/D Stealership and take a look. Not that I'm saying anything about the build quality, but with something as tangible as a Sebring, you should be able go look at one. nothing personal....
On the Sebring the gas guarantee only works out to $1500 dollars, depending on what you forecast for fuel prices. Outlook is much better if you're considering a new Ram or Jeep.
Frank 6:10PM (6/05/2008)
"The Sebring is the new K-Car."
Wrong. The K-cars sold well, and made money.
b0nesc 8:28AM (6/05/2008)
It should have been extended to the SRT models.
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Torrent 11:42AM (6/05/2008)
Ditto....I don't understand why it's limited to certain cars. If you're gonna do it, make it available to everyone, not to certain people while still adding with a 12K Mile limit each year... WTF is that?
I said it before and will restate it again:
"2.99 gas won't distract customers from Chrysler's Tata-like build quality."
The only good cars are the Charger, 300 and Challenger, but the first 2 still even have quality problems
Even the '09 Journey is below average. You'd think they'd learn with experience, right?
PFFFH! Think again.
montoym 7:46PM (6/05/2008)
Simple, it's called business. Things like this cost money and C/J/D isn't willing to spend an unlimited amount of money on a program like this.
All the SRT cars use Premium fuel(I assume, I actually didn't look it up), and it was already stated that the $2.99 offer only covers regular and diesel. So, simply, no SRT cars are covered.
Though I am intrigued that they did extend the offer to diesels with diesel priced higher than Premium. But, I think it has to do with the lower sales numbers of the diesel models(they have what 3-4?) and the fact that most still get better mileage than an SRT vehicle(other than the Caliber SRT-4). The Rams are included(diesel as well), but Dodge has a lot of trucks to move before the new ones debut this fall, makes sense to extend the offer to them also.
As far as mileage, that makes just as much sense. What, did you expect them to offer unlimited mileage at $2.99/gal for 3yrs?
Jim in Tampa 8:38AM (6/05/2008)
Gee, I guess Nardelli & Company haven't realized that it's not only the price of gas but lousy cars and a general downturn in the overall economy as well.
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geo.stewart 8:39AM (6/05/2008)
sure, you can lead a horse to water but you cant make him lie in piss.
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rpm773 8:42AM (6/05/2008)
Gold!
JZeke 9:46AM (6/05/2008)
"Sewer rat might taste like pumpkin pie but I wont eat the filthy m**********r."
Has anyone bought a Chrysler without incentives on the table? Seems wasteful to make cars that people only buy due to discounts.
cowboy bob 8:39AM (6/05/2008)
It really isn't that good a deal. Do the math. They limit their deal to 12k a year. total 36k. $3 BUCKS A GALLON IS ABOUT $1 OFF THE GOING RATE here in NY. At approx. 25MPG that means 480 gallons a year in use. Total savings will amount to $1440 over the three years if you maximize the benefit. $2000.00 rebates are routine, so where is this such a great deal? Apparently most people can do the camparison, and this must make Chrysler people surprised, since they have believed their customers were dolts for as long as I can remember.
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Seminole 9:47AM (6/05/2008)
"Chrysler people surprised, since they have believed their customers were dolts for as long as I can remember."
There customers are a bit wacky.
This girl that I know had a last gen Liberty, on which the lease is about to expire, so she was looking for a new car. She never ever used it as an SUV, not even to carry a lot of stuff, and she wanted a car with lots of features. So I suggested a TSX or G35 because both had great lease offers on them at the time. I was trying to tell her that in a time of rising gas prices, getting a gas hogging SUV that you'll never use is a stupid idea. Well she didn't listen to anything I was saying, went out and got a brand new '08 Liberty fully loaded. I'm quoting her on this, she got it because the "interior in Jeeps are beautiful." At that point I didn't have the heart or will power to tell her that the Liberty is made out of left over Rubbermaid containers. Her final act of stupidity? She got her Liberty in Black on Black, in Florida.
300Kid 10:43AM (6/05/2008)
In response to hei
I agree that GM & Ford have nobody to blame, but that's because they were never owned by another company (a foreign one no less) for almost a decade. Shame on Daimler for promising Chrysler a brighter future. All they got were some older generation parts under the LX cars & the Crossfire. Imagine if they had truly shared not even their parts, but just their engineering know-how. The Chrysler brand itself should be competing with others like Lexus, BMW & Mercedes the way Cadillac now does and the way Ford desperately wants Lincoln to. And Dodge should be competitive against the Japanese & Koreans. So if Chrysler were brought upmarket, why would Mercedes compete against itself?? It's like they pinned Chrysler's back to the bottom of the swimming pool. Chrysler was just fine in the mid 90's and had been just fine since it made a huge come-back saleswise in the 80's with the k-car buffet.
To the others: I do currently own a Chrysler (that I'm extremely pleased with), so you can call me bias if you want. But I do also own a Honda (my 3rd) and have owned a Nissan as well. But give them a break, they didn't anticipate they'd be dropped so fast and they've ended their partnership w/Mitsubishi so this Sebring and its platform mates will be the last of their kind anyway. Give them a couple years to reorganize and lets see what they do next (the dealer restructuring, redesign of the LX cars, Phoenix engines, etc.).
Buckus 8:53AM (6/05/2008)
I can't fathom why people would buy Chrysler products right now. For the most part, they are crappy when compared to their contemporaries, and it's going to take big $$$$ off the top to move them. There's only a few desirable Chrysler vehicles right now, and they're all Halo cars that most people wouldn't buy (i.e. Challenger, 300C).
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tanooki2003 9:06AM (6/05/2008)
Even incentives like the whole $2.99 gas deal is not enough to get me to buy garbage and force myself to be happy with it for the next 3-5 years. If Chrysler had seriously improved their build quality and actually made cars that people really want (good quality economy cars that don't look dated 10-20 years) they might have a much larger consumer demand vs mostly just consumers who in their mind think they are supporting the American economy or have parents and family who have been long term loyal supporters of Chrysler products.
Also not to mention as cowboy bob has stated and I have mentioned many posts back, once you do the math the savings equals out to being a typical rebate amount. In other words it's like getting parts of your $2000 rebate given to you only at the pump instead of the financing of the vehicle. Not such a smart move. Clever gimmick yes but smarter consumers can see right through this marketing scheme.
Nice try Chrysler. Why don't you actually start with improving your image before you whine about your sales. The Challenger is not going to be enough to save your past unintelligent mistakes.
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CHIRS 9:32AM (6/05/2008)
It will take Chrysler mg't 2 years to get out of the mess the German's got them into. Remember these products are all a result of German direction. The '09 Ram is a start but all accounts of the interior and the truck itself. It was a smart move to bring Jim Press in from Toyota it's a start. They have survived near death before and i beleive they will again. To all of you so called Americans who think its a good thing that the big 3 are getting hammered, just remember all the Americans being laid off,fired and losing there homes and lives. I personally will never buy a car built by a Japanese owned company. I've been to Pearl Harbor, i was on the Memorial,looking at all the names and seeing the ship below me. Its something i will never forget.They sarted it, we finished it, but in the long run they won.
hei 9:51AM (6/05/2008)
Chrysler shouldnt blame on the germans and neither should GM/Ford blame the Japanese for having better business when they have these fat and lousy Americans in the union who sit around and drain the companies' money
(producing under effieciency level and still receiving a paycheck)
*ie. Detriot is one of the city with the fattest people (source: Supersize me)
sw 9:59AM (6/05/2008)
@ CHIRS
Oh come on, do you also go and cry over the ancient Incans because their culture died out? Or go cry over the iceman found in the mountains because he was murdered. The world wars were brutal, I agree. The Germans and Japanese are not at war with us anymore, in fact they have been allies in Afghanistan.
The current global and capitalist market basically states that if you make garbage, people won't buy it. To make a profit, don't make garbage. Make your higher quality vehicle at the lowest cost possible.