DJC = Dodge, Jeep, Chysler. Right?
What does CLLC stand for?

And an excellent Vodka, by coincidence.

Jeep Unlimited, Challenger, maybe a few of the ‘09 Rams, but what else? Name the Chrysler product that is in such high demand that you want to ensure you have enough supply 5 months from now.

This is a problem that 0% financing and $2.99 gas just can’t solve.

Remember those corny Dr. Z ads about the German Engineering baked into Chrysler products? Ugh.

Actually, it sounds like the opposite. They are taking pre-orders because they want to manage their production and not end up with more excess inventories than they bargained for.

As for cutting fleet sales, it seems to me that Wall Street has missed the point. Fleet sales are ultimately determined by the marketplace, not by the automakers. They are a reactive measure, not a proactive one.

If the automakers can’t or won’t make vehicles that consumers want, the car companies have two choices: Let them rust or sell them to fleets. So of course they end up in fleets, and the fleet percentage ends up being high.

The way to cut fleet sales is not to announce to the press that fleet sales are being cut, but by making cars that people want. If retail customers will buy them, there won’t be much left over for the fleets.

Under Cerberus, Chrysler has failed to deliver compelling products. Without compelling products, you don’t have retail customers. Without retail customers, you have fleet sales.

If you want to end fleet sales, make a fantastic small car and compact sedan that makes folks think twice about buying another Civic or Camry. Just drive Chrysler’s versions of these cars, and it’s really obvious why they end up in fleets.

channel-stuffing + flaming cash-burn-rate + banks hesitant to loan uncommitted money = company desperate to hoard cash prior to chap 11? (or at the very least Cerberus sees conditions getting even worse even if Chrys avoids chap 11)

Depends on the circumstances.

If the dealer simply takes a dirt nap…then no. The finance guys repo the cars, and the game is over.

However, a common scenario is for the mfg to work with the dealer to sell the franchise to a competing dealer to get the Buyer “on channel” (DJC all under one roof in a fancy, exclusive, CLLC-designed building). In these cases, the mfg often contributes some sum of money to help motivate the parties. That amount depends on various factors, including the size of the market, how much the mfg likes the Buyer/Seller, etc.