Starting Today Chrysler to Double U.S. Government's Cash-for-Clunkers Incentive
By Scott Doggett July 23, 2009
Chrysler Group LLC said Wednesday that it is offering $4,500 in cash toward the purchase of one of its new vehicles as it seeks to match a government incentive for people to trade in their old gas guzzlers.
The automaker said it will offer cash or zero percent financing for six years on most of its 2009 Chrysler, Dodge or Jeep models. The incentive begins today and lasts through Aug. 31.
Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy protection last month under new ownership and is now working to lure back car shoppers in a depressed market.
Chrysler sales were down 46 percent for the first six months of the year, while industrywide sales for the same period were down 35 percent.
The automaker is clearly using the financial incentive to lure prospective buyers into its showrooms, but unfortunately once there the prospects won't have the opportunity to buy any of the electric vehicles Chrysler has been showing in recent years.
However, Chrysler has promised that it will introduce a plug-in electric vehicle next year. It's shown several concepts, including a battery-electric Dodge two-seater based on a Lotus platform and a trio of "extended range" hybrid-electrics - two Jeeps and a Chrysler Town and Country minivan - that use electric motors, lithium-ion battery packs and small gasoline engine/generators in a set-up similar to that being pioneered by General Motors Corp. in the Chevrolet Volt due out late next year.
Most industry watchers, including us, are betting on the recently named Dodge Circuit sports car (right
) - a potential rival to the Tesla Roadster
- to be first out of the chute.
Chrysler said in a statement Wednesday that buyers are eligible for the new incentive even if they are not trading in a vehicle under the government's cash-for-clunkers legislation.
That program's final rules will be announced Friday. It offers tax credits to car shoppers who trade in their old, fuel-inefficient vehicles for a cleaner new vehicle.
Not all vehicles qualify under the legislation, however. Car shoppers get a voucher worth $3,500 if they trade in a vehicle getting 18 miles per gallon or less for one getting at least 22 mpg. The voucher grows to $4,500 if the new car's mileage is 10 mpg higher than the old vehicle.
Owners of sport utility vehicles, pickup trucks or minivans getting 18 mpg or less could receive a voucher for $3,500 if their new truck or SUV got at least 2 mpg higher than their old vehicle. The voucher would increase to $4,500 if the mileage of the new truck or SUV was at least 5 mpg higher than the older vehicle.
That means some consumers could, in theory, get up to $9,000 off a new Chrysler vehicle if they trade in and buy the right combination of vehicles. According to our parent company, Edmunds.com, 16 Chrysler vehicles are fuel efficient enough to qualify a shopper for a tax rebate under cash for clunkers, so long as the trade-in vehicle qualifies as well.
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