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Chrysler Promises $2.99 Gas for 3 Years

By TOM KRISHER,

Posted: 2008-05-06 14:55:34

DETROIT (May 6) - Chrysler is offering to subsidize the cost of gasoline for car and truck buyers, but its biggest rivals - General Motors, Toyota and Ford - said Tuesday they have no plans to match it.

New cars for sale sit in a lot at a Miami Chrysler dealership

By Roberto Schmidt, AFP/Getty Images

Chrysler's $2.99 gasoline offer is based on 12,000 miles of driving per year.

Also See: Find Cheap Gas | Gas Station Secrets | Gas Hogs | Does Gas Go Bad?

The Auburn Hills-based maker of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles on Monday night announced an offer that caps the price of gasoline at $2.99 a gallon for three years for people who buy or lease new vehicles from Wednesday through June 2. The offer covers most of its models and is based on 12,000 miles of driving per year and the vehicle's government fuel economy rating.

Customers will get a card for buying gas that is linked to their own charge account, Chrysler said. The customer will be billed $2.99 a gallon, and Chrysler will pay the rest.

Actual savings depend on what happens to gas prices during the next three years, but based on the average price of $3.61 a gallon in Detroit as reported Monday by AAA Michigan, someone buying a 2008 Dodge Durango four-wheel-drive sport utility vehicle with a 5.7-liter V-8 engine would save about $414 per year.

The Durango is one of Chrysler's least fuel-efficient vehicles, getting 13 miles per gallon in the city and 18 on the highway, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The savings calculation is based on its highway mileage.

Japanese automaker Suzuki Motor Corp. has made a similar offer in the U.S., with free gas for the summer.

General Motors Corp. tried a gas payment promotion two years ago in Florida and California with little impact on sales, company spokesman John McDonald said Tuesday.

GM instead is focusing on making vehicles more fuel-efficient because that's what customers are demanding, McDonald said.

"It really didn't do much to drive sales, and it really was for consumers more an issue of do vehicles really get good fuel economy or not?" he said.

Photo Gallery

David Zalubowski, AP

Gas Puts Breaks
On Auto Sales

1 of 3

Make: Ford
April 2008 Sales (Vol): 200,007
April 2007 Sales (Vol): 227,414
Change: -12.05 Percent

Ford Motor Co. spokesman Jim Cain said the company has tried similar programs regionally but also has decided to focus on more efficient engines and transmissions and other measures.

"We know that fuel economy is important to consumers," he said. "It'll be important whether gas is $2.99 a gallon or $4.99 a gallon."

Spokesman John McCandless said Toyota Motor Corp. is focusing its incentives on particular models, especially older ones that are near replacement or highly competitive segments such as pickup trucks.

But Chrysler is hoping its move will boost sales of its vehicles, which dropped nearly 18 percent from January through April when compared with the same time last year, according to Autodata Corp.

"It's a way to give (customers) peace of mind," Steven Landry, executive vice president for North American sales, said in a conference call Monday evening. "We want to get everybody through these challenging times."

Chrysler LLC has been hit hard by the market shifting from trucks and sport utility vehicles to more fuel-efficient car-based models. Through the first four months of the year, about 70 percent of its light vehicle sales were trucks.

Chrysler said it's in the middle of investing $3 billion in its engines and transmissions to make them more efficient for the next generation of models.

Associated Press Writer David N. Goodman contributed to this report.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

2008-05-06 09:06:46

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149 comments

Quickmatch 05:32:12 PM May 06 2008

Report This!

Afbigfish 03:38:11 PM May 06 2008

Report This! Hey donÃ¢ÂÂt get me wrong I love foreign cars.

And you'll wish you had one--a nice 35mpg one when gasoline rationing kicks in and you have to push your big useless pile of Detroit truck into the garage.
Google--federal gas coupon--, and weep. The system is set up and ready to launch. Better sell that pile of trash while there's still stupid people around to buy it. Won't be worth a dollar the day after the rationing is announced.

DTwoLeftFeet 05:26:58 PM May 06 2008

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It will probably be 10 years before a significant number of electric vehicle modela appear in the american market. Detroit doesnt want to be dragged into the electric vehicle age

Quickmatch 05:24:34 PM May 06 2008

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Afbigfish 03:38:11 PM May 06 2008

Report This! Hey donÃ¢ÂÂt get me wrong I love foreign cars. Nothing sounds sweeter than my American car key sliding down the side of a nice shiny Honda

One thing sweeter: the sound of the squad car door slamming to take your sorry ***
off to the jail your momma and poppa called home.

Afbigfish 05:18:02 PM May 06 2008

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I'm already pissed and doing something about it in my own special way. One Jap car at a time.

Afbigfish 05:16:15 PM May 06 2008

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Screw who, Me? Man hope you didnât have to think to long for that. Maybe those are the only English words you know how to spell. I take it you drive a foreign car? Maybe youâre an illegal piece of $hit that sucks off hard working Americans. I donât know but if you are living in this country and driving foreign cars and shopping at Wal-mart then you get what you deserve and Iâm just the S.O.B. to give it to you. Iâm sick of all you whinny faggots complaining about the economy If you buy/drive foreign shut the hell up you have no business complaining. I cant speak for the UAW but I used to be a Union carpenter and If you think its all gravy work your dumber than you look. Most of you pu$$ys couldnât make it till lunch. So those men and woman deserve every penny they make. If you think its so easy why donât you try it out for a day.

Paradigm 1 04:24:59 PM May 06 2008

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The Scooter and a Prius are the most feared weapons in the middle east. Be a real patriot and use one for your transportation.

Jtrbug1958 03:51:37 PM May 06 2008

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They are all in Ka-hoots! I'm tellin ya America, better get pissed.

Hctwins2 03:45:56 PM May 06 2008

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Screw you

Afbigfish 03:38:11 PM May 06 2008

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Hey donât get me wrong I love foreign cars. Nothing sounds sweeter than my American car key sliding down the side of a nice shiny Honda. Itâs like Music to my ears. I also like to park my big A$$ truck next to them and open my door real hard puts a real nice ding in them. Yea if it wasnât for foreign cars I might not have any fun at all. So next time you come out of the mall and thereâs a big a$$ scratch or dent down the side of your piece of crap Lexus you know why.

Oh Yea almost forgot F.U.@YOUR4INCAR