Chrysler's Jim Press: A Sales Bank By Any Other Name is… Uh….

Robert Farago
by Robert Farago

Chrysler’s co-Prez Jim Press has forced Automotive News [AN sub] to back away from an earlier story. Ish. This morning’s article claimed that Press’ recent appeal to Chrysler dealers– to order pre-built cars from a pool of 12k vehicles– constituted a return of the dreaded “sales bank.” But a funny thing happened on the way to the retraction: AN discovered further depths to Chrysler’s misery. According to Press, canceled orders account for the “fence units” in dispute (not driveways). The cancellations came from store owners who couldn’t obtain floorplanning loans (to cover inventory costs), dealers who went bust, fleet buyers who got cold feet and “vehicles left unsold from dealership sales promotions.” So what’s the difference between “overstock” and a sales bank? Jim Arrigo and Hayden Elder, co-chairmen of the Chrysler Dodge Jeep national dealer council, set us straight. “When we were doing sales bank, there was a lot of pressure,” said Arrigo, owner of Arrigo Dodge-Chrysler-Jeep in West Palm Beach, Fla. “It’s totally different this time. There isn’t somebody calling up.” Who’d listen? And what’s the bet that those 12k units are the tip of the iceberg?

Robert Farago
Robert Farago

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  • Windswords Windswords on Dec 16, 2008

    http://www.allpar.com/news/ Return of the sales bank December 15th, 2008 by DaveAdmin With sales falling faster than Chrysler has been able to cut production, the sales bank has apparently been brought back, at least temporarily. According to Jim Press, as quoted by Automotive News, there are 12,000 units of “unassigned inventory” - vehicles produced without an order from dealers. Many of these may be Durangos and Aspens produced by the Newark, Delaware plant, which reportedly closes at the end of the week; the plant is the sole source of these vehicles, including hybrid versions. Chrysler is predicting 74,000 retail sales in December 2008 and just 55,000 retail sales in January 2009.

  • Geotpf Geotpf on Dec 16, 2008

    It sort of makes sense to hold in inventory product from a plant you closed. That is, Chrysler probably thinks there is a market some Durangos and Aspens, but not enough to keep the plant open. So they keep it running for awhile longer than current demand would support, stockpile the units, and sell them off over the entire 2009 model year.

  • Menno Menno on Dec 16, 2008

    Overstock.com? "New Dodge Avengers, MSRP $19,180 - now 74% off, $4986, plus if you order today, free drop-shipping to your garage door." * "Taxes and license fees not included." * some assembly required; tires, wheels, steering wheel, seats, doors, interior, exhaust system, engine. Engine hoist, jack stands and mini-assembly line (sourced from China) available at extra cost for $2137.

  • Carbizz Carbizz on Dec 16, 2008

    Once again the completely uninformed and idiotic speak with no notion of what they speak about. This is again our domestic socialistic press trying to discredit our own country for no good reason. The 12k vehicles being talked about in this poor article are fleet units built but not taken in the last quarter because of the demise in our economy. These companies ordered these vehicles then refused delivery. That means Chrysler is asking its dealer body to pick up a few each to eliminate this overage. It works out to about3.5 cars per dealer nationwide. Before you all spout off you should try and get educated on the subject first.

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