Chrysler targets overseas growth; plan on track

* Reuters
* , Wednesday March 19 2008

By Karey Wutkowski
NEW YORK, March 19 (Reuters) - Automaker Chrysler LLC has posted double-digit sales growth overseas over the past two months and expects to almost double sales outside North America by 2012, Chief Executive Bob Nardelli said on Wednesday.
Nardelli, speaking at the New York auto show, also said Chrysler did not see the need to push for deeper cost reductions in its loss-making U.S. operations based on the weak start to 2008 sales in its home market.
"We do not see a need to adjust, based on what we've seen in the first couple of months," Nardelli told reporters.
Separately, Chrysler sales chief Jim Press said the company expects to post a "big" decline in March U.S. sales from a year earlier, reflecting the automaker's decision to pull back from less profitable deals for car rental agencies.
Chrysler had built its turnaround plan around a cautious forecast for the U.S. auto market and would not need to see a recovery emerge in the second half to stay on its plan, he said. After losing $1.6 billion in 2007, Chrysler was moving "in the direction of profitability," Nardelli said.
The U.S. auto market has slumped by a wider margin than most analysts had anticipated last summer, when Cerberus Capital Management LP completed its acquisition of an 80 percent stake in Chrysler.
J.D. Power and Associates, the influential industry tracking service, on Tuesday cut its 2008 forecast for U.S. sales of cars and light trucks by 5 percent to 14.95 million, which would be the lowest total since 1994.
Chrysler's current forecast for a slump in the U.S. auto market through the end of 2008 contrasts with the outlook still held by some of Chrysler's larger rivals, including General Motors Corp and Toyota Motor Co.
The automaker, which ranks No. 4 in the U.S. market by sales volume, has been trimming some vehicle lines and offering buyouts to its 44,000 U.S. hourly workers on a plant-by-plant basis in a bid to cut costs.
At the same time, Nardelli said Chrysler has moved to strengthen its sales operations in Latin America and Asia and will expand sales teams in Europe beginning this summer in a bid to boost sales outside the slumping U.S. market.
"It represents an opportunity for us uniquely versus the other manufacturers," Nardelli told reporters after a keynote speech at the auto show.
Chrysler relied on the U.S. market for almost 90 percent of its overall sales of cars and light trucks in 2007, a higher percentage than its Detroit-based rivals GM and Ford Motor Co, which have been able to count on gains in emerging markets to offset losses at home.
Nardelli said Chrysler was taking steps to bolster its presence in fast-growing auto markets like Brazil, Russia, China and India.
He said Chrysler's international sales were up 10 percent during the first two months of 2008, after finishing with sales of 238,000 vehicles in 2007. By contrast, Chrysler's U.S. sales were down 13 percent in January and February.
Nardelli said Chrysler was also taking steps to improve quality and customer satisfaction, areas where it has been criticized for trailing rivals.
"Our customer satisfaction isn't where we'd like it to be," Nardelli said.
Chrysler is counting on the New York auto show to generate some excitement about one of its most important launches for the coming year -- an all-new version of the Dodge Challenger muscle car.
Show organizers expect more than 1 million people to visit the auto show at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. The show opens to the public on Friday.

 

Well I guess there is some good news here. They won't make more budget cuts. I really think they need to invest more into the company to make up for the years of budget cutting under Daimler's management.

 

Yeah, they seem to be working their plan. Trim product redundancy, adjust production to meet demand, and improve existing/remaining products.