Car Incentives at Highest Levels in Years
March 3, 2009 |10:42 | Chrysler By : Team X
Until the auto industry picks back up, potential buyers will get some of the best deals in years if they buy a car now.
GM, Ford, Chrysler, Toyota, Honda and Nissan offered the highest incentives last month of any February since Edmunds started tracking in 2002, reports USA Today.
The average discount for all automakers was $2,914, up $400 from a year ago. Chrysler, the automaker that seems to be hurting the most, is offering an average discount of $5,566 per vehicle, up from $3,520 last year.
Chrysler LLC said on Thursday it would list its used car inventory on eBay Inc., following a pioneering tie-up between General Motors Corp. and the online auctioneer announced early this year.
in his former job, Bob Nardelli steered retailer Home Depot as it doubled sales. Alan Mulally revived Boeing Co.'s commercial airliner business.Now, the car industry outsiders find themselves at the wheel of two of Detroit's once-dominant Big Three automakers -- piloting America's ailing auto icons at a time when they are collectively being outsold in their home market by foreign-based rivals."Detroit has gotten into so much trouble being managed by home-grown talent that they're looking outside," said David Healy, an analyst at Burnham Securities. "For big companies like that, management skills are transferable."Analysts expect Mr. Nardelli to make quick and decisive changes, in part because his compensation is directly tied to Chrysler's financial revival. The executive, who exited Home Depot under pressure with a controversial US$210-million severance bonus, will not draw a salary, according to reports.Instead, his pay will be linked directly to the equity performance of the carmaker, research firm edmunds.com said. Mr. Nardelli declined to provide details, saying only: "My success is rooted in the success of the company."By naming Mr. Nardelli, New York private equity firm Cerberus is putting its first major stamp on Chrysler since it won control of the automaker in the spring. Tom LaSorda, the Canadian who had been Chrysler CEO, becomes president and vice-chairman and will continue to lead crucial current labour negotiations with unions."This is totally off the wall. It caught me completely off guard," said Buzz Hargrove, president of the Canadian Auto Workers union, which represents 11,000 Chrysler workers.
DETROIT, Aug 5 (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC will name former Home Depot Inc. (HD.N: Quote, Profile, Research) Chief Executive Robert Nardelli chairman and chief executive in a shake-up that comes just one business day after the No. 3 U.S. automaker was taken private by Cerberus Capital Management (CBS.UL: Quote, Profile, Research), a person familiar with the situation said.Chrysler's current chief executive, Tom LaSorda, will stay on as president and vice-chairman and continue to lead ongoing talks with the United Auto Workers union, the person said.The automaker's current chief operating officer, Eric Ridenour, will leave Chrysler and that post will not be filled, the person said.The shake-up, set to be announced on Monday, comes after Cerberus closed its $7.4-billion acquisition of an 80.1-percent stake in Chrysler on Friday and showed the speed at which the private equity firm was moving to remake the loss-making automaker.But the changes also come at a sensitive time for Chrysler, which is locked in negotiations with the UAW aimed at bringing its hourly labor costs down sharply to make the automaker competitive with Japanese rivals led by Toyota Motor Corp.LaSorda had been widely expected to stay on as Chrysler's CEO through negotiations on replacing a four-year deal on wages and benefits for UAW-represented workers that expires on Sept. 14.
In partnership with Chinese automaker Cherry, Chrysler is moving ahead with a strategy to build small cars in China. 
