Chrysler town and country

Email to a friend Printer friendly Font: * * * * But Chrysler ended the year on an upward sales trend in December. It set sales records outside the U.S., even though its U.S. sales were down by three per cent, about equal to the shrinkage of the overall market. Chrysler, which is now owned by private equity company Cerberus Capital Management, is not required to report its financial results publicy. A number of recent media reports in the U.S.

have used that new opacity to cast doubt on Chrysler’s financial viability. Some have claimed Chrysler is relying on cheap fleet sales to shore up its sales figures. Senior Chrysler executives who took part in a conference call Monday did not refer to those speculative reports but seemed anxious to dispel any pessimism about Chrysler’s future. “We have a great future in front of us,” Press said.

“We’re poised to grow and compete with the world’s best.” The company’s year of restructuring has left it leaner and able to move more more quickly than its larger competitors, he said. “Our fleet sales were actually down in December,” Press said without prompting. Chrysler has also put its previous inventory problems behind it, according to Stephen Landry, executive vice-president of North American sales.

The company currently has 438,000 vehicles in stock, Landry said, about 100,000 units or 19 per cent fewer than a year ago. “So we’re in pretty good shape.” The company has lost billions in the past due to high inventories and model year overlap. International sales in 2007 rose by 15 per cent. Canadian sales went up six per cent. But the dip in the U.S., by far its major market, dragged down global sales by one per cent.