Chrysler Offers Employee Pricing and a Free Hemi
by Steve Cypher on Thursday, March 12th, 2009Chrysler adds a free hemi engine option to its pickup in addition to employee pricing for the month of March.
Yup, it’s a Hemi and it’s free!
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You can read about the doom and gloom of the economy anywhere and most of us here at Auto Credit Express are getting tired of it. This is why we appreciate Chrysler LLC’s “glass half full” attitude when they released their February sales figures. Yes, their sales were down 26 percent from February of 2008; but, at the same time, their market share was up 1.4 percent and retail sales were also up 26 percent over January of this year.
So to build on this, the company has come up with an additional promotion for March which, again this year, is Dodge truck month. This means that until the end of the month, the company will be offering the 5.7-liter HEMI engine at no charge on the Dodge Ram 1500. The “no charge HEMI” option is worth up to $1,200 to customers, and is available in conjunction with the Employee Pricing Plus Plus program for 2008 and 2009 model year vehicles through March 31st.
Plus Plus program
The “Plus Plus” program, in case you aren’t familiar, offers the Chrysler employee price to all customers purchasing or leasing a new 2008 or 2009 Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge vehicle (the first plus). In addition to the employee price, customers are eligible for cash discounts of up to $3,500 for 2009 model year vehicles and up to $6,000 on 2008 model year vehicles (the second plus). In addition, plus qualified customers can obtain zero percent financing for up to 36 months through Chrysler Financial (which means that these customers, in theory, are “Plus Plus Plus”, we guess).
Chrysler’s take on the program
“The availability of consumer credit from Chrysler Financial along with a consistent promotional message and advertising share of voice influenced the improvement in our February retail sales,” said Steven Landry, Executive Vice President, Sales and Marketing, Service and Parts. “Overall our retail sales position in February can be attributed to an increase in awareness of our Employee Pricing Plus Plus program. It truly gives our dealers a message that resonates with consumers. We will continue this program in March. In addition, March is Dodge truck month, and we will add the availability of “no charge HEMI®” on the Ram 1500.”
Our take on the program
If you’re in the market for a new pickup truck, Chrysler’s latest program makes their brand new Dodge Ram 1500 – especially with the HEMI – a very affordable choice in this market segment.
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The Dodge Challenger is NOT part of the EPP in the West. Actually the dealers are asking 10K above MSRP. No wonder Chrysler is going bankrupt. They deserve it with these kind of practices.
Sounds pretty good to me. If you can afford to buy a car, there really has never been a better time than now, they’re practically giving them away, especially the domestic automakers. And their mostly decent enough cars for the money.
Price out a Dodge Caliber next to comparable models such as a Mazda 3 or VW Rabbit, you’ll save at least $3500. Not bad at all.
What do you think will happen to Chrysler prices in April, will the employee pricing remain or go away??
Michelle,
At this point in time, I would say that there is a good chance that Chrysler will either continue with the employee pricing program or substitute it with another one that will offer similar savings.
WHEN WILL CHRYSLER OFFER EMPLOYEE PRICING AND ZERO % INTERREST ON THE DODGE CHALLENGER?
Canales,
Since I don’t work for Chrysler, this is only a guess, but I would be willing to bet it will happen when they are having difficulty moving them off the lot, which isn’t the case at the present time.