Gas prices are out of control and are forcing many buyers to rethink their current vehicles. This has killed sales of large trucks and SUVs. Chrysler has just announced a promotion to hopefully win more buyers that still want an SUV or truck, but can't imagine paying over $4 bucks to fill it up.
The "Let's Refuel America" promotion is available for new buyers until June 2, 2008. The promotion includes a three-year price hold on gas prices on many of Chrysler's models. The way the program works is that Chrysler issues new buyers a gas card that is attached to their personal credit card. Every time the card is used it will charge the buyer's personal credit card $2.99 per gallon (87 octane, E85 fuel or diesel fuel). The remaining amount will be picked up by Chrysler. Since the program is only good on vehicles that do not require premium unleaded vehicles such as the Dodge Viper are not eligible. For some reason the Jeep Wrangler is also not eligible for the program. In addition the new Dodge Challenger is also not eligible.
This promotion coupled with the "Lifetime Warranty" program may make certain Chrysler vehicles suddenly more appealing. What do you think?
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PRESS RELEASE:
Chrysler LLC Delivers Economic Stimulus; Protects Consumers from Rising Gas Prices for Three Years
"Let's Refuel America" available throughout the U.S. exclusively at Chrysler, Jeep® and Dodge dealerships through June 2, 2008 Three-year price protection from volatile gas prices available on compact, mid-size and full-size models, minivans, crossovers and pickup truck models
Seventy-six percent of customers cite rising gas prices as "top concern" Auburn Hills, Mich. - In response to direct customer feedback citing the prospect of rising gas prices as a top concern, Chrysler LLC today announces its own economic stimulus package: an exclusive gas price protection policy that eliminates the risk of further spikes in fuel prices. With the U.S. purchase of eligible Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles, customers can enroll in the "Let's Refuel America" program and receive a gas card that immediately lowers their gas price to $2.99 a gallon, and keeps it there for three years. The offer is available at 3,521 U.S. Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealerships through June 2, 2008, and is available on vehicles ranging from popular new compacts, crossovers and minivans to full-size diesel-powered pickup trucks.
"Today we are proud to introduce an unprecedented program to help put customers' minds at ease and do something to help working people who are worried about the volatility of fuel prices and vehicle cost of ownership," said Jim Press, Vice-Chairman and President, Chrysler LLC. "The Let's Refuel America Price Guarantee puts money in your pocket today, and allows our customers to better manage their fuel expenses. And you can't get it anywhere else besides a Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge dealership."
The Let's Refuel America program offers consumers a combination of the fuel price protection program and additional bonus cash up to $3,000 on available vehicles, including Chrysler PT Cruiser, Dodge Charger, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Dakota and Dodge Ram.
Consumer Economic Solutions
Chrysler has a number of solutions to help our customers during these tough economic times. "Chrysler is committed to providing the best value, and the least worries, for our customers," said Press. Chrysler's lineup includes five models for under $20,000 that get 28 miles-per-gallon or better on the highway. To protect consumers from unexpected repair costs in the future, Chrysler models come with the industry's best powertrain warranty, covering the original owner for the life of the vehicle. And Chrysler has made a number of its most popular options standard on its New Day Package vehicles.
Fuel Economy Solutions
Chrysler currently offers six models that get better than 28 miles-per-gallon on the highway: Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler Sebring Convertible, Dodge Avenger, Jeep Compass, Jeep Patriot and Dodge Caliber. Through April, the six of these models combined have higher sales than in the first four months of 2007. The recently-launched 2009 Dodge Journey comes with an available 173-hp four cylinder engine, helping it achieve best in class fuel economy.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee diesel 3.0-liter engine provides a class-leading driving range of approximately 450 miles and gets an estimated fuel economy of 18 miles/city and 23 miles/highway for 4x2 models and 17 miles/city and 22 miles/highway for 4x4 models. Outside of North America where fuel-saving diesel engines are in higher demand, Chrysler offers 17 models with diesel powertrains.
This fall, Chrysler will launch in the United States, two new hybrid SUVs, the Dodge Durango Hybrid and Chrysler Aspen Hybrid, boasting a fuel economy improvement of more than 25 percent overall, and 40 percent in the city. In 2010, the Dodge Ram Hybrid will reach the market. Chrysler is currently in the midst of a $3 billion powertrain investment offensive to develop new fuel-efficient powertrains and axles for our next-generation models.
Chrysler supports the federal government's new dramatically increased CAFE fuel economy standards, which will increase fuel efficiency by an average of 40 percent by 2020. Recently, Chrysler joined the US Climate Action Partnership, working to find solutions to global greenhouse gas emissions.
Customer Advisory Board
In February, Chrysler created the industry's first Customer Advisory Board to encourage a direct dialogue with customers and gather insight and feedback. A recent Advisory Board survey generated the following results: 76 percent of the community is "very concerned" or "extremely concerned" about fuel prices. 83 percent of the community responded that fuel prices will affect their summer vacation plans. (Note: the poll shows that 19 percent responded "extremely", 22 percent responded "very much", 30 percent responded "somewhat", and 12 percent responded slightly, 17 percent responded that it won't affect their plans.)
Program Description
The Let's Refuel America gas card program works when a customer purchases a new and unused Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge vehicle and selects the program in lieu of other available incentives. The customer is provided with the registration process documentation and registers providing their required personal information via the dedicated web site or toll-free 800 number. Once registered, the customer receives their gas card and separately, their Personal Identification Number (PIN) within 4 to 6 weeks of application. The customer then swipes their Let's Refuel America Gas Card at an eligible gas station, selecting up to 87 octane regular, E85 fuel or diesel fuel, and enters their PIN to begin the fueling process. After the fuel transaction occurs, the customer's personal credit card (identified in the registration process) is charged $2.99 per gallon.
Let's Refuel America Eligibility
The following vehicles are eligible for the Let's Refuel America program:
Small/Compact Car
Dodge Caliber, Chrysler PT Cruiser, Chrysler PT Cruiser Convertible
Mid-size Car
Dodge Avenger, Chrysler Sebring, Chrysler Sebring Convertible
Large Car
Dodge Charger, Chrysler 300, Dodge Magnum
Crossover
Dodge Journey
Minivan
Dodge Grand Caravan, Chrysler Town and Country
Compact SUV
Jeep Patriot, Jeep Compass
Mid-size SUV
Dodge Nitro, Jeep Liberty
Large SUV
Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jeep Commander, Dodge Durango, Chrysler Aspen
Pickup Truck
Dodge Dakota, Dodge Ram, Dodge Ram HD
The following vehicles are not eligible for the Let's Refuel America program:
All SRT models, Dodge Viper, Dodge Challenger, Dodge Ram Chassis Cab,
Chrysler Crossfire, Jeep Wrangler and Dodge Sprinter.
Select Program Offer
$2.99 guaranteed fuel card for up to 3 years
Offer valid with up to 87 octane regular unleaded fuel, E85 fuel or diesel fuel only, depending upon purchased vehicle*
Yearly allotment of gallons provided
Annual gallon allotment ends each year on 7/31 (first year ends 7/31/09)
Enroll
Easily register via a dedicated web site or by calling designated 1-800
number
Personalized Let's Refuel America Gas Card arrives within 4-6 weeks of
receipt of application
Use & Save
Use the Let's Refuel America Gas Card like any credit card – just swipe
and type in your PIN to use
Check account transactions online
* If mid-grade or premium unleaded fuel is purchased, the customer will be billed for the $2.99 plus $.15 per gallon for mid-grade (88-89 octane) or plus $.30 for premium (90-94 octane). All other grades of fuel higher than 94 octane are not covered under this program and the full pump price will be billed through to the customer plus a $2 service fee per transaction with no gallon usage penalty. If customer purchases unleaded gas (including E85) on a diesel card, or diesel fuel on an unleaded gas card, the customer will be billed the full pump price plus $2 service fee per transaction with no gallon usage penalty
Comments (22)
How strange. I'd consider this a good sign that gas prices will drop below $3 a gallon at some point in the future.
How many gallons do you get a year? I can't imagine it's unlimited or people will abuse this like crazy. If I bought one I'd just stand at the pump and charge other people to fill up @ like $3.50 a gallon. This looks like a marketing announcement. It needs more details. It's pretty much useless unless we know the allotment per vehicle.
Posted by Cheap Car Lover | May 5, 2008 8:17 PM
Posted on May 5, 2008 20:17
I can also see this coming back to bite Chrysler in the foot... they're using it as a promotional tool, but what more people buy Chryslers during this period of time than they expected... losing $1 to $2 dollars per gallon? Let's see... around $20 per fill up per week... that's $1000 per year... now if 10,000 people buy cars during this promotional period, that's about $10 million dollars Chrysler will have to shell out per year... and it could be more...
If this promotion is too "successful", I can see it putting Chrysler in serious trouble.
Posted by DatMan | May 5, 2008 8:38 PM
Posted on May 5, 2008 20:38
Very clever. I am sure many people will bite. Instead of offering a huge discount and cheap financing you can get your discount through the gas tank. It'll take you three years to get that instead of right away. It says you have an allotment per year. It's probably based on about 15,000 miles per year. If the car get 20 mpg thats 750 gallons. $3.65 for a gallon, thats .66 x 750. $250.00 bonus per year. They just saved a bundle instead of giving you a rebate of $3000 and you fell for it
Posted by Mike | May 5, 2008 8:59 PM
Posted on May 5, 2008 20:59
As prices rise, behavior changes, consumption falls, and prices will fall.
The only advantage to being the largest consumer of gas in the world is that gasoline cost can only go as high as our economy can sustain. That prices can be this high is a testament to our economy's strength. We will find the price that is unsustainable and then behavior changes - maybe at $4.00, maybe at $5.00
As for me, I see plenty of folks with half my income who spent twice as much for cars that get half the mileage. I suspect that I won't be getting pinched this time.
Posted by bubba551 | May 5, 2008 9:00 PM
Posted on May 5, 2008 21:00
Sorry, that's $500.00 per year not $250.00. They still outwitted you if you fall for it instead of a big rebate or cheap financing.
Posted by Mike | May 5, 2008 9:05 PM
Posted on May 5, 2008 21:05
a company that will go in receivership within the next 12 months, can promise anything for the future.
Posted by waldorf and statler | May 6, 2008 1:10 AM
Posted on May 6, 2008 01:10
This isn't helping anyone. The gas pricing may look appealing now, but your still screwed after 3 years - left with full gas prices and a car with less then respectable reliability. Today a car buyer should look for a car that is less dependent on gas. Chrysler offers no models that maintain 30+ MPG. If they want to sell cars and maintain their business for years to come, they need to reduce their carbon footprint. They should offer cars that get better gas mileage, that last longer and require less repairs / resources to maintain.
Posted by concerned | May 6, 2008 9:55 AM
Posted on May 6, 2008 09:55
If you fall for this deal you are a sucker big time. What are you going to do with your gas guzler after 3 years when program expire ? Probably sell it for few thousand. Nice, you pay it 30K and sell it after 3 years for 3K.
Posted by John | May 6, 2008 11:42 AM
Posted on May 6, 2008 11:42
This is clearly not the right direction. Keeping in mind, we dont know what the market will be like in 3 years. I believe it wont get that cheap again. However I cant imagine that one will get much out of this deal.
Chrysler should stop spending time with these "deals". They should focus themselves on designing better cars (better designs imo too). That is in the long run the only way to keep up this race.
I dont know how they are calculating these things. In the end itll come around again. One cannot run a race like this for long.
Posted by Jan | May 6, 2008 1:02 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 13:02
This is clearly not the right direction. Keeping in mind, we dont know what the market will be like in 3 years. I believe it wont get that cheap again. However I cant imagine that one will get much out of this deal.
Chrysler should stop spending time with these "deals". They should focus themselves on designing better cars (better designs imo too). That is in the long run the only way to keep up this race.
I dont know how they are calculating these things. In the end itll come around again. One cannot run a race like this for long.
Posted by Jan | May 6, 2008 1:02 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 13:02
This is clearly not the right direction. Keeping in mind, we dont know what the market will be like in 3 years. I believe it wont get that cheap again. However I cant imagine that one will get much out of this deal.
Chrysler should stop spending time with these "deals". They should focus themselves on designing better cars (better designs imo too). That is in the long run the only way to keep up this race.
I dont know how they are calculating these things. In the end itll come around again. One cannot run a race like this for long.
Posted by Jan | May 6, 2008 1:02 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 13:02
This is clearly not the right direction. Keeping in mind, we dont know what the market will be like in 3 years. I believe it wont get that cheap again. However I cant imagine that one will get much out of this deal.
Chrysler should stop spending time with these "deals". They should focus themselves on designing better cars (better designs imo too). That is in the long run the only way to keep up this race.
I dont know how they are calculating these things. In the end itll come around again. One cannot run a race like this for long.
Posted by Jan | May 6, 2008 1:03 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 13:03
This is clearly not the right direction. Keeping in mind, we dont know what the market will be like in 3 years. I believe it wont get that cheap again. However I cant imagine that one will get much out of this deal.
Chrysler should stop spending time with these "deals". They should focus themselves on designing better cars (better designs imo too). That is in the long run the only way to keep up this race.
I dont know how they are calculating these things. In the end itll come around again. One cannot run a race like this for long.
Posted by Jan | May 6, 2008 1:03 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 13:03
@DatMan
$10M for Chrysler is a small price to pay to get some cars out the door. A car company like Chrysler spends hundreds of millions a year in advertising, and is hemoraghing as much money just as quickly. To spend a few million to gets some cars moving is nothing. There is nothing about this that's about to put Chrylser is any sort of serious trouble. They typically put a lot of accounting weight into decisions like that first, so you can bet they have a pretty informed outlook as to how much it's going to cost them.
And $4 and $5 gallon gas won't be serious changing America's habits any time soon. Truck and Hummer sales are on a decline, but they still sell hundreds of thousands of them each year. Even at gas where it is now, people are gladly signing up to buy a big V8-whatevermobiles. And comparitively speaking, Americans are still getting a good deal for gas. Gas will need to start ripping up to $8 - $10 USD a gallon before people start 'really' caring. Most people I know who own a truck still don't substantially care. Gas will need to climb a fair bit higher before most people actually start to take decisive action.
Posted by scotty | May 6, 2008 1:11 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 13:11
I tend to agree with "waldorf and statler" that it seems that Cerebus Group is trying to line the company up for a buyout. Of the Big Three, Chrysler group is the most ill-prepared for the current market. The Challenger will sell but to a small market. They are top heavy with large trucks/suv's that are currently sitting on dealer lots or selling for a song to fleets. The 300/Charger are nice but due for a much needed update. Jeep has a highly desirable Wrangler 4 dr, but the Patriot and Compass are devisive to Jeep faithful. The minivan market is stagnant and Chrysler has lost the lead to Honda/Toyota. It's mid size cars are not connecting to their target buyer and while competent are not competitive to the competition in fit/finish, handling, etc.
Posted by longdxcommuter | May 6, 2008 1:30 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 13:30
Sounds like someone can't keep up with technology and/or change their technology to suit the changing world conditions. Watch Honda and Toyota eat these other guys alive as the market changes.
Posted by Splat | May 6, 2008 2:09 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 14:09
Here is a good deal for those who can afford it.
Buy the cheapest car that get's this rebate, turn the car over to 18 year old, and use the card for your nice big Chevy SUV.
Your kid still get's their collage car, you get a discount at the pump, Win win, way to go Chrysler..... Cheers
Posted by Wayne | May 6, 2008 4:16 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 16:16
This is Cerberus's trying to push up sales quick, so that they can get the stock price up and sell it off soon. Cerberus is a Hedge Fund, they will try and ditch this thing soon at a tidy profit. Even if it only makes $100 million, thats still $100 million.
The problem is that right now, as Chrysler has NOTHING attractive on the market, they have to do stuff like this. On a balance sheet, those gas cards read as future liabilities with unpredictable amounts of upswing. Gas could stay at $3.50 a gallon or even peak there, or it could go to $4 a gallon or more.
Truth is, this is a bad play, but its a bad play only in the sense that many potential buyers for Chrysler will be intelligent enough to look at those liabilities. Cerberus may be hoping to pawn off Chrysler on someone thats either young and dumb, old and nostalgic about cars (and wants to get into the business), or who thinks they could turn it around.
Either way, its just more trouble for Chrysler.
You know what I just thought of? I remember that in the 1920s there was this suffering car company and a guy named Chrysler bought it and turned it around. It did well all until the mid fifties, when it started to sour. Then in the sixties this company built small cars when everyone else wanted large cars. Then in the seventies they offered large cars, and everyone wanted small cars. Someone named Lee Iacoca turned it around by getting the government to buy its debt in the late seventies and by the 80s the company had made somewhat of a turn around, offering the first mini-vans. But in the 90s it suffered again, only gaining its feet with a few trucks and a terrible "merger" (actually a buy out) with Daihmler-Benz. Benz gave Chrysler its old E-class platform, one it was ditching. Chrysler then got a one-off hit for a scant few months as a rapper featured that E-Class car in one of his music videos.
The history of Chrysler has been one fraught with near-misses and utter failures, and every time someone tries to save the company. Maybe its time to let it go.
Posted by Allen | May 6, 2008 4:18 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 16:18
" waldorf and statler:
a company that will go in receivership within the next 12 months, can promise anything for the future."
Quoted for truth.
Posted by GT Fan | May 6, 2008 6:57 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 18:57
"The Let's Refuel America program offers consumers a combination of the fuel price protection program and additional bonus cash up to $3,000 on available vehicles, including Chrysler PT Cruiser, Dodge Charger, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Dodge Dakota and Dodge Ram."
I don't get what's going on... in this article, they explicitly say you can get this fuel protection program AND $3000 rebate... then on the next article about SUZUKI offering something similar, they say you can only get 1 or the other...
Posted by DatMan | May 6, 2008 9:37 PM
Posted on May 6, 2008 21:37
I sell all three of the brands and customers have had a lot of questions don't forget that some vehicles come with up to 3000.00 cash back with the card and 97% of gas stations take the card. Chrysler has singed up with a company that is taking the risk which is pricelock.com Even if gas prices hit 7.00 a gallon chrysler will not get hurt by it.
Posted by kenburns29@gmail.com | May 7, 2008 7:32 AM
Posted on May 7, 2008 07:32
What does lifetime really mean for Chrysler, until they get bought by another company again, which seems like every 10 years.
This would drive up Chrylers sales if gas prices reach 4 a gallon, but I don't see it ever reaching that point, at least not in the U.S, because the U.S. gov is under a lot of pressure to get the gas prices down soon, by opening up the reserves and pushing out more gas.
Posted by SteelCity1981 | May 7, 2008 10:07 PM
Posted on May 7, 2008 22:07