Chrysler Group LLC announced that they will be discontinuing their promotion in which they offered to double the government’s ‘cash for clunkers’ rebate for those interested in purchasing a 2009 model year Chrysler, Jeep, or Dodge. Chrysler’s program also offered up to $4,500 to those individuals who did not own a vehicle eligible under the CARS program.
Effective Tuesday, Chrysler will amend the program with a sliding scale of rebates in excess of the government’s rebates, depending on the model and brand purchased. The change in marketing strategy is a result of the incentive program successfully meeting its objective; to drive traffic to Chrysler dealerships.
The surge in traffic to Chrysler dealerships coupled with prolonged periods of non-production has caused a massive drop in the amount of inventory available to dealers, but not that should not be a concern much longer, as Chrysler restarted its factories last week. Chrysler still has some work to do however, as CEO Sergio Marchionne strives to make the company profitable again despite one of the worst vehicle markets we have ever seen, and the company’s limited amount of new products in the pipeline.
-By Stephen Calogera
Source: WSJ
