xcel
08-29-2006, 07:17 PM
Chrysler, Ford officials agree more emphasis needed in the industry's mix on fuel efficiency. (http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060829/AUTO01/608290401/1148)
Micheline Maynard - New York Times - August 29, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/4_00_gasoline_pricing.jpg
Chrysler chief: "We're planning internally as if gasoline will be $3 to $4 a gallon."
TOLEDO - The Chrysler Group, which depends more heavily on sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles than any other Detroit automaker, said on Monday that it expected gasoline prices to remain at $3 to $4 a gallon for the rest of this decade.
The comments by Thomas LaSorda, Chrysler's chief executive, are the first time a Detroit automaker has issued a specific forecast on gas prices since they began climbing to $3 a gallon and higher.
Ford's chief sales analyst agreed on Monday that high gas prices were not a temporary phenomenon, although he did not cite a price range. The analyst, George Pipas, said that the auto company expected gas prices to remain high, volatile, and unpredictable.
Together, the comments signal a recognition that the two automakers may have to fundamentally change their product mix to put more emphasis on fuel-efficient vehicles - a move General Motors says it already is making.
LaSorda, who had traveled here for the start of production of a four-door version of the Jeep Wrangler, was asked whether gasoline prices had peaked. "I would hope so," he replied, "but we're planning internally as if it is $3 to $4 a gallon."
LaSorda said that Chrysler had prepared a business model based on the assumption that gas prices would remain in that range for the next three to four years. That is about the period of time it takes for an automaker to develop a new vehicle.
"We are looking at it as if it's going to be much higher, rather than hoping it comes down," LaSorda said.
"Hopefully, we can fight back," he added.
If Chrysler's assumptions are correct, it spells more trouble in the near term for the traditional Detroit companies, whose sales and market share have dropped this year as consumers have shifted away from big vehicles to more fuel-efficient models.
About 75 percent of the vehicles that Chrysler sells are pickups, sport utility vehicles, and minivans, compared with about two-thirds of the sales by the Ford Motor Co. and about 60 percent of the vehicles sold by GM, according to industry statistics firm Autodata.
Micheline Maynard - New York Times - August 29, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/4_00_gasoline_pricing.jpg
Chrysler chief: "We're planning internally as if gasoline will be $3 to $4 a gallon."
TOLEDO - The Chrysler Group, which depends more heavily on sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles than any other Detroit automaker, said on Monday that it expected gasoline prices to remain at $3 to $4 a gallon for the rest of this decade.
The comments by Thomas LaSorda, Chrysler's chief executive, are the first time a Detroit automaker has issued a specific forecast on gas prices since they began climbing to $3 a gallon and higher.
Ford's chief sales analyst agreed on Monday that high gas prices were not a temporary phenomenon, although he did not cite a price range. The analyst, George Pipas, said that the auto company expected gas prices to remain high, volatile, and unpredictable.
Together, the comments signal a recognition that the two automakers may have to fundamentally change their product mix to put more emphasis on fuel-efficient vehicles - a move General Motors says it already is making.
LaSorda, who had traveled here for the start of production of a four-door version of the Jeep Wrangler, was asked whether gasoline prices had peaked. "I would hope so," he replied, "but we're planning internally as if it is $3 to $4 a gallon."
LaSorda said that Chrysler had prepared a business model based on the assumption that gas prices would remain in that range for the next three to four years. That is about the period of time it takes for an automaker to develop a new vehicle.
"We are looking at it as if it's going to be much higher, rather than hoping it comes down," LaSorda said.
"Hopefully, we can fight back," he added.
If Chrysler's assumptions are correct, it spells more trouble in the near term for the traditional Detroit companies, whose sales and market share have dropped this year as consumers have shifted away from big vehicles to more fuel-efficient models.
About 75 percent of the vehicles that Chrysler sells are pickups, sport utility vehicles, and minivans, compared with about two-thirds of the sales by the Ford Motor Co. and about 60 percent of the vehicles sold by GM, according to industry statistics firm Autodata.