Saturday, September 20, 2008
The automaker will hold a video conference at 100 movie theaters.
NEW YORK (AP) — Chrysler LLC said Friday it is preparing to reveal some of its future plans to its dealers next week, and one dealer said they’ll get a look at the next-generation electric vehicles the automaker is developing.
Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers across the country will get “insight into our business strategies” Tuesday via video conference at about 100 movie theaters across the nation, Chrysler spokesman Stuart Schorr said.
Although Schorr declined to reveal the contents of the presentation, Alan Helfman, vice president of River Oaks Chrysler Jeep in Houston, said Chrysler told him the event will show off the plug-in electric cars the automaker has been working on.
“This new generation of cars, from what I’ve been hearing, are the next generation of electric cars,” Helfman said. “They should be great sellers.”
Schorr said Chrysler CEO and Chairman Robert Nardelli, Vice Chairman Jim Press, Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda and Steven Landry, executive vice president of North American sales, would participate in Tuesday’s program and answer questions from dealers.
“There’s a lot going on inside Chrysler that’s very exciting, and our dealers need to be up to speed on some of the great things that are happening here that will help grow our business going forward,” Schorr said.
A similar presentation is planned for dealers in Canada, Mexico and other international locations, he said.
Helfman said he wasn’t familiar with the specific features of the vehicles that will be presented, but they would be powered by a plug-in electric powertrain.
Chrysler has felt pressure to break away from its dependence on fuel-guzzling trucks and sport utility vehicles amid the recent decline in auto sales but has been behind other automakers that plan to launch electric vehicles in the next few years.
Earlier this week, General Motors Corp. unveiled its own plug-in electric car, the Chevrolet Volt, which it expects to roll out in late 2010. The Volt will be able to go 40 miles on a single charge before a small gasoline engine kicks in to recharge the batteries, allowing the car to travel hundreds more miles.
Toyota Motor Corp. also is pushing to get a plug-in electric vehicle to market in 2010, while Ford Motor Co., which is testing 20 on roads in California, says it is five years away from producing them in significant numbers.