Chrysler Aims To Pump Life Into Struggling Lineup

DEE-ANN DURBIN

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (AP) — Chrysler hopes to make billions of dollars to repay government loans and revamp all of its cars and trucks with an ambitious plan that hinges on doubling sales in five years.

The plan, which includes spending $23 billion to overhaul or replace all its Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram models by 2014, is realistic as demand improves over the next five years, says Sergio Marchionne, Chrysler's new CEO, who has turned around Italian automaker Fiat Group SpA.

Marchionne made his remarks after a daylong presentation of his five-year plan to save the ailing 84-year-old Chrysler. Much of the overhaul includes cost savings from combining purchasing and engineering with Fiat, and using Fiat's smaller, more fuel-efficient designs to replace aging Chrysler vehicles.

Marchionne's Fiat, which now owns 20 percent of Chrysler with an opportunity for more, was put in charge of rescuing the automaker by the U.S. government. Chrysler emerged from bankruptcy protection in June.

Some industry analysts say the automaker's goal of selling 2.8 million vehicles globally in 2014 is overly ambitious because of increasing competition. The company must also fight public perception of noisy, poor-performing vehicles, especially in mid-size sedans, the biggest segment of the U.S. car market.