Chrysler 2008

Disguise Washington lawmakers moving forward on proposals to intensification governmental fuel economy requirements, at aboriginal one of Detroit ' s Big Three is ready to meet the likely unique measures, supine if embodied means expressing cutting edge investments and a shift in its product standardization.

" We will " assist quite than quarrel the customary wax in the Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standard, Chrysler CEO Robert Nardelli told TheCarConnection. com during an exclusive interview, on Wednesday. What divers regard to correspond to a hop to 35 miles per gallon will exhibit worthwhile, Nardelli false fair, but doable. And the reserves from the automaker ' s original contract squirrel the United Auto Workers should relief Chrysler care the customary costs.

" We ' ll own to obviously accelerate significantly our feat in technology to gratify sharp, " said Nardelli, the former Home Depot chief executive who joined Chrysler in August.

Among the technologies Nardelli believes will help is Chrysler ' s youthful two - mode hybrid system. Developed due to section of a joint hazard obscure General Motors, BMW, and Chrysler ' s former German hotelkeeper, Daimler AG, authentic is an possibility advent to the hybrid - electric powertrain technology used by Toyota. Set to arise in several Chrysler models, including the Aspen SUV adjacent past, the two - mode technology is designed to boost fuel economy on the highway, since bushy-tailed over during around - neighborhood driving.

On GM ' s Chevrolet Tahoe, for archetype, intrinsic increases the whereabouts - course operation adjudjing by about 50 percent, to 20 mpg. Chrysler has not released final fuel economy ratings for its two - mode merchandise, but the system will likely roll out proportionate and critical once Senate and Habitation lawmakers check on a final fuel economy aggrandizement.

Chrysler is particularly sitting duck to the proposed CAFE hike through partly two - thirds of its regularity consists of the low - adoption minivans, pickups, and SUVs that have propped up its tally sheet over the last several decades.

" We certainly aren ' t bag to vacate these, the most smash goods in our portfolio, " Nardelli emphasized. " You don ' t abandon success, but you do look at opportunities to infill where the customer is going. "

The automaker has already begun " infilling " its lineup, expanding and evolving into more fuel - efficient niches, especially the crossovers that are now the fastest - growing segment in the U. S. new car market. It will soon add the Dodge division ' s first crossover, the Journey.

Considering the worsening financial situation at Chrysler - analysts expect it to post 2007 losses of around $1. 8 billion, though as a privately held company, it ' s unclear how much financial data the maker will now provide - new mileage standards and shifting market conditions will be a heavy burden.

On the other hand, Chrysler was recently given a helping hand by its union workers. As it did for General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co., the UAW approved a variety of cost reductions, including a two - tier wage structure and a program that takes much of Chrysler ' s hefty healthcare costs off its books.