In the latest incentive to move vehicles off dealer lots, Chrysler has introduced their "Let's Refuel America" plan, in which Chrysler will pay for part of your fuels for the next three years.

They will lock in a price of $2.99 for that time span. That's what you the customer will pay. Anything over that Chrysler picks up the tab. For owners of diesel-powered Dodge Rams, it could mean a savings of $3000 or so over that time span.

Full story here.

Here's AutoObserver's take: Chrysler Unveils New Gas-Price Guarantee Incentive: “Let’s Refuel America”

Suzuki too
It looks like Suzuki is jumping on the free fuel bandwagon too, at least for three months. No word yet from the other automakers.

While Honda and others are reaping the benefits from selling loads of smaller cars, the makers of big trucks an SUVs are taking it it on the chin. In it's latest move GM will cutting one shift in all four of their factories that make full-size pickups and SUVs. The cuts will occur at Pontiac, Flint, MI;  Janesville, Wis; and Oshawa, Ontario.

States GM North America President Troy Clarke: “With rising fuel prices, a softening economy and a downward trend on current and future market demand for full-sized trucks, a significant adjustment was needed to align our production with market realities.”

Full story here and here.

Dodge Ram hurting too
AutoObserver points out that Chrysler LLC is spending more than anyone on truck incentives in order to move Ram trucks off dealer lots.

Dodge Ram: Spending Most for Incentives

Same with Toyota
High inventories of Tundras and Sequoias are hurting the "Big T."

Image: Patricia Beck / Detroit Free Press

Now this is interesting... As we all know Detroit automakers are saddled with too many divisions and too many dealers. It's known that Chrysler will be drastically cutting dealers, and one of many concerns—when they put this into action, will they be able to adequately service all the vehicles they sell?

What they've come up with is to offer stand-alone Chrysler service facilities. These facilities could well be dealers that have been closed. Frankly I think this is a great concept.

This concept could benefit all major automakers
If you think about it, it's possible that this concept could be expanded to offering mega-sized service centers, catering to specific brands scattered about any given region. I could easily see GM, Ford, Toyota or any other automaker offering this.

This would relieve the sales dealers of servicing what they sell by not having to purchase service equipment and train/hire service technicians. The sales dealers could pool their resources and become equal owners of these ultra large services facilities, so that they still would benefit from the profits that servicing vehicles brings in.

So in effect, that would free the sales dealers to do nothing but sell vehicles. Anything pertaining to service, be it PDIing vehicles for sale, to any sort of service work, would all be done by these large service facilities.

The sales outlets could take over the existing service facilities, and convert that space into larger showrooms. New yet-to-be-built sales outlets could very easily get by with less acreage, as the space now allocated to service wouldn't be necessary, and thus would be cheaper to buy.

These service facilities would be very large, possibly on a scale approaching a small- to medium-sized shopping center in terms of acreage. Now if they could also offer 24/7 vehicle service, that would be perfect, as a big problem for many customers is finding the time to get their vehicle serviced.

It's something to think about.

Full story here.

With all the gut-wrenching turmoil going on at Chrysler it must take a very special kind of person to work in their executive suites these days. Nardelli just brought back a guy named Peter Arnell to act as the official Moses-on-the-Mountaintop.

Arnell is often referred to as a marketing genius by those he's worked with. That's the good news. The bad news is he's the guy whom the term "Boss from Hell" was patterned after.

“It’s a smart move” by Nardelli, said Jim Schroer, the former chief marketing officer for Chrysler who hired Arnell the first time he consulted with the company, in 2001. “But it will create all kinds of tensions.”

Will he save Chrysler? Will those at Chrysler be able to work with him?

AutoObserver has done an excellent piece on this guy, what he brings to the table, and as to what we might expect.

Peter Arnell Comes Back to Chrysler: Savior? Svengali? Or Both?

File this under "Duh..." So six months ago you planned your wedding, or perhaps your vacation to Florida, and it's scheduled for October; and now your boss (Chrysler) says all vacations this year will take place in a two-week span in July. So there. Tough luck...

To say this forced summer vacation plan isn't going over well with Chrysler employees, is well, an understatement. Is anyone surprised?

Full story here.

Okay everyone, here's your chance to tell Chrysler LLC what you want. The company has just started recruiting folks for their Customer Advisory Board (here), which is an online forum where Chrysler staffers will solicit feedback from customers.

"We want to harness insights and customer dreams into things we can use concretely with our different groups, such as engineering, design, marketing," states Chrysler's Debra Meyer, a vice president and chief marketing chief officer, and pictured to the right.

Sounds like a great idea. I hope other automakers pick up on this too.

Full story here.

Here's AutoObserver's take: Chrysler Creates Online Customer Advisory Board

Tucked in a far corner of the New York auto show is this rare Chrysler Thunderbolt. It's an early concept car from an era when life-size concept cars were not common. Alex Tremulis was one of the designers, notable because he was responsible for the Tucker -- there are clearly similarities. Tremulis also worked with American Bantam and Crosley earlier. The Thunderbolt is said to be Chrysler's answer to the Buick Y-Job.

The Thunderbolt has a power-folding hardtop, plus doors that open with the push of a button -- notice no door handles. There's also no grille, as air intakes are located below the front bumper.

This car is in nearly perfect condition; even the interior is spotless. Only five Thunderbolts were built, and four still exist. This one is on display in the LeMay museum in Tacoma, Washington. They have five other cars on display at the New York auto show. -- Brian Moody, Road Test Editor

And when I say everyone, I mean everyone who works at Chrysler—globally!

Why? To improve the automaker's efficiency and boost productivity, so says CEO Bob Nardelli, who issued this edict.

To the best of my knowledge, this is a first ever forced vacation by any automaker, not to mention the fact that it involves workers around the world. So, for two weeks in July, the beaches surrounding Lake Michigan, Lake Superior, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and elsewhere in the world will likely be packed with Chrysler employees.

Since this appears to be an 'industry first," rumors of Chrysler's long-term survival have once more surfaced, as everyone is again wondering what's really going on here?

Full story here and here.

Here's Inside Line's take: Nardelli Orders Two-Week Summer "Vacation" for All Chrysler Employees

Here's AutoObserver's take: Chrysler: A Week of Whacking Costs

The fact that the announcement showed up at 6:00 on a Friday evening says it all. Chrysler is closing its Pacifica Advanced Product Design Center in Carlsbad, California and it wanted the fewest number of people possible to notice.

According to the release, Chrysler is “…leveraging resources worldwide, forming new joint ventures and alliances and consolidating operations in order to better achieve global balance and manage fixed costs. As such, we are closing the Pacifica Advance Product Design Center, consolidating the Advance Design function in Auburn Hills. Advance Design remains an integral part of our future design efforts, led by Trevor Creed, Senior Vice President -- Design.”

Almost every major manufacturer has a West Coast design studio. The satellite studios not only draw on the Southern California car culture, they also attract designers who wouldn’t otherwise consider a career job in Detroit. Not having such a setup certainly isn’t the end of cutting edge design at Chrysler, but it sure isn’t going to help.

GM had to shut their Pontiac, MI truck assembly plant due to the strike at American Axle. The plant builds full-size SUVs and pickup for Chevy and GMC.

Not only is the strike hurting GM, but it could soon affect Chrysler as well, as they also supply parts for Dodge trucks.

“It is unfortunate that a market-competitive labor agreement for American Axle’s original U.S. locations could not be reached,” said company president Richard Dauch. “All of the changes we have proposed have been accepted by the UAW in agreements with our competitors in the United States.”

Full story here.

Here's AutoObserver's take: GM Closes Plant Due to Supplier Strike