Chrysler Will Plug Dealers Into Plans For Future Next Week

Chrysler said Friday it is preparing to reveal some of its plans to its dealers next week, and one dealer said they will 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 videoconference at about 100 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," Schorr said.

A similar presentation is planned for dealers in Canada, Mexico and international locations, he said.

Helfman said he wasn't familiar with the specific features of the vehicles that will be presented but that 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.

Chrysler's sales have taken the hardest hit among the major Detroit automakers as gas prices surpassed $4 and consumers started flocking toward more fuel-efficient vehicles. Its sales this year are down 24 percent through August, compared with an 11 percent drop industrywide, according to Autodata Corp.

Press, who left Toyota Motor Corp. to lead Chrysler's marketing, told the Motor Press Guild in Los Angeles earlier this month that Chrysler had been showing some dealers plug-in hybrid prototypes it is developing.

In January, the automaker displayed three concept cars featuring pure electric and hybrid electric powertrains at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The company, however, has not provided a timeframe for development of the Chrysler ecoVoyager, the Dodge Zeo and the Jeep Renegade.

Auburn Hills, Mich.-based Chrysler plans to roll out seven new models in 2010. Press revealed the number last week but declined to provide details, except to say the seven include the previously announced revision of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and a subcompact car jointly produced with Nissan Motor Co.