Chrysler renovates pre-owned plan

Chrysler’s Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle (CPOV) program is being upgraded with a new web site, more participating dealers, and more features. The program provides customers with used cars that are less than 65,000 miles old and less than six model years old; aside from the usual 125-point inspection (with repairs using Mopar parts), the program provides customers with a Carfax report, three month / 3,000 mile virtually unlimited warranty, and a six year, 80,000 mile transferable powertrain warranty with roadside assistance.

New features include three months of satellite radio (on vehicles that can take advantage of it), a $35 rental allowance when overnight service is needed, and various optional service contracts, including a lifetime warranty upgrade.

Chrysler claims that Certified Pre-Owned vehicle sales and inventories are growing.

The new Web site is www.certifiedpreowned.chrysler.com; it includes a variety of used cars for sale.

Chrysler inventories fall again

Chrysler inventories, which in the past have sometimes ballooned with unsold cars, were at a respectable 58 days’ supply as of January 1, 2010, close to the total industry average of 53 days. Chrysler division was at 48 days, Dodge cars at 36, Dodge trucks at 70, and Jeep at 67.

Within Chrysler, cars had much smaller inventories than trucks, with only the PT Cruiser having a substantial oversupply; that should be addressed as 2009s are sold and the fully loaded 2010s attract more customers. At Dodge, there was an oversupply of Challengers but just five Calibers nationwide as the selloff of the old model continued and the production of the new one had not yet taken effect.

For Dodge trucks, Dakota had the highest inventory in terms of days, with low sales making a stock of 2,700 Dakotas appear as 123 days’ supply; the Ram, with 46,800 trucks across the country, was listed at a 109 day supply.

At Jeep, numbers were more consistent save for the Compass, which had a 129 day supply; Liberty as at 53 and Commander, with just over 3,000 available, at 54.

Chrysler inventories dive to 28 days

Chrysler’s inventories managed to hit the “smallest five” list this month. While Toyota was almost completely cleaned out, with 12 days’ supply (11 with Lexus excluded), Chrysler finished with just 28 days’ inventory across all its brands and 21 days of inventory at its eponymous brand. All the other automakers on the five-lowest list were Japanese. Ford, in contrast, ended the month with 35 days’ supply, and GM ended with 39. These numbers are all far healthier than past numbers (usually around 40 days for the Japanese and over 60 for the Americans), but with production down, Chrysler dealers are having a hard time refilling their lots.

The only non-discontinued Chrysler models to have a high inventory were the Challenger (77 days, but just 3,400 units), Sprinter (49 days, 2,200 units), Wrangler (55 days, 11,900 units), and Ram (47 days, 31,600 units.) Ram has been suffering from a perception of low gas mileage (not borne out by comparisons with the Ford F-series) and a paucity of positive publicity and press.

Vehicles in surprisingly short supply include the PT Cruiser, with just 900 vehicles spread across the country for a mere six days’ supply; the Sebring, with 1,000 units and a ten-day supply; the Avenger, with just 500 units, or a three-day supply; the Compass, 200 units, four days; and Patriot, with 300 units, or three days. These numbers were current as of September 1, and are based on Automotive News’ reports.

Chrysler inventories at the end of the shutdown

Chrysler’s inventory has not been in such good shape for years, with a mere 71 days of supply on July 1 – at the depressed sales rates in effect during the bankruptcy. Overall, fewer than 200,000 Chrysler vehicles were parked at dealerships and corporate lots, or in transit, on July 1.

Numerically, supplies were led by the Ram, accounting for one quarter of all inventory – but that represents 95 days’ supply, almost lean by 2008 standards. The next highest inventory level was held by the Caliber, with 12,800 units; the 2010s are on their way, with production to start in January, but Federal new-car subsidies may eliminate the 90-day Caliber supply before then.

The PT Cruiser is the most plentiful vehicle by days’ supply, with 6,700 sitting on lots; that’s enough for 151 days at the current rate. One may wonder why Chrysler has green-lighted further PT production, but two rumors may explain it: the plant has an overstock of certain parts, already bought and paid for; and one new source claims a diesel will be planted in the PT to boost gas mileage. While that investment seems likely, one never knows.

The second most plentiful vehicle in terms of days’ supply (excluding the 100 Vipers) is the Mercedes/Freightliner Sprinter, with just 3,500 Dodge-labelled examples representing 145 days’ supply.

Any shortages on dealers lots appear to be purely local phenomena, with no less than 33 days’ supply of any particular vehicle (the 33-day car is the Dodge Challenger, with just 1,800 on lots or in transit). Dealers have plenty of relatively fuel-efficient Patriots (10,200), Compasses (4,300), minivans (over 22,000 split between Dodge and Chrysler), and Sebring/Avengers to sell. There may be specific model shortages within those nameplates.

Chrysler will be resurrecting its factories during July and August, producing short runs of 2009 models before moving on to the 2010 model year.

Chrysler inventories lower, still high

Chrysler inventories fell during its bankruptcy period, with all factories shut down, but were still high by import standards – and close to GM’s inventories. This data was provided by Automotive News, covers the United States, and was current as of June 1.

Overall, Chrysler ended the month with 86 days’ supply, or 260,400 vehicles. Dodge trucks were the most plentiful (97 days) followed by Chrysler cars (93 days), though since many truck sales are to fleets and there were few if any fleet buys during the shutdown period, those figures might be somewhat misleading. Dodge had 68,700 Rams in stock on June 1 – compared with 42,600 Doge cars and 63,900 Jeeps.

The largest inventory for a true Chrysler vehicle continues to be the PT Cruiser, with 158 days’ supply – beaten only by the Mercedes-built Sprinter. The lowest supply of a currently produced vehicle was for the Challenger, at 28 days (2,900 units); it was followed by Wrangler, with 38 days. Durango and Pacficia continue to be sold down, with just 500 Pacificas left and 2,800 Durangos, and 1,500 Aspens.

A plentiful supply of minivans remains in the U.S. (though Canadian supply is said to be constricted), with 16,000 Caravans and 18,800 Town & Countries.

The effects of closing dealers’ fire sales will likely not be seen in these figures. Days’ supply must be taken with a grain of salt since sales were artificially depressed by lack of fleet sales, and increased by people hoping to get a bargain from bankruptcy and those dealers which were able to sell off vehicles at low prices before June 1.

Chrysler inventory at four months’ sales

Chrysler had 114 days of inventory on May 1, according to Automotive News, at current sales rates. The figures were roughly similar for each of the three brands; there were more days of inventory for cars than trucks (132 vs 109 days), though government figures and pundits repeatedly talk about how Chrysler’s problem is having too many trucks.

With minivan sales stalled in April, Caravan and Town & Country supplies seem especially high. There were 47,000 minivans in inventory in the United States on May 1, good for around 86 days if sales remained stable.

Overall, the highest supplies were of Mercedes imports – the Crossfire (300 vehicles being a 262 day supply) and Sprinter (4,700 units equating to over a year’s supply).

The largest domestic supplies (in terms of days) were of the Avenger and Sebring, which achieve decent gas mileage but have been savaged by the media. Under 13,000 Avengers equated to 242 days’ supply. Other vehicles with 200 days’ supply or more were the Compass and Patriot, which ironically provide good gas mileage for their size and niche. The 2009 Patriot has gotten numerous positive reviews .

These numbers were dwarfed by the Dodge Ram, with 83,500 trucks sitting on lots – but they are a quick seller so the supply, in days, works out to 121.

The vehicles in short supply are the Challenger, with just 5,400 on lots, the sold-out Magnum, the Wrangler (63 days or 22,500 units), and the Journey, with 87 days’ supply.

BMW, Hyundai, Subaru, and Toyota all had 60 or fewer days’ supply on their lots. Chrysler did have a smaller supply than Volkswagen and was similar to GM.