DCX Admits to Bank of Unreported Unsold Vehicles

[Variance]

DCX Admits to Bank of Unreported Unsold Vehicles

(Piggy bank...LOL?)

Bracing for an anticipated third-quarter loss of $1.5 billion, and squirming under the hot spotlight of a new cost-cutting initiative, Chrysler Group now admits its vehicle stocks were higher than reported.

A pool of unsold vehicles in July and August went unreported in the auto maker’s figures under a little-used practice for counting inventory, Ward’s uncovers, indicating Chrysler’s overall market picture was bleaker than the industry was led to believe.

Soaring gasoline prices and the resulting negative impact on pickup and SUV deliveries was blamed for Chrysler’s poor sales performance in the period.

During the two months, the auto maker continued to run production, building a “bank” of up to 100,000 unsold vehicles that were not counted as inventory, a spokesman confirms.

Read "Chrysler Vehicle Stocks Higher Than Reported" @ Ward's Auto

[Northstar]

Holy crap, 100,000 unsold vehicles not counted as inventory? Chrysler is in a world of hurt... that's more than a half of month of sales just sitting somewhere.

[AxelTheRed]

And to think...Chrysler was doing just fine not long ago.

[FAPTurbo]

Guess the EM-DEE-ES techn-nul-oo-gy couldn't solve this one.

(i just love saying MDS technology in a slackjaw yokel voice for some reason...)

Still, this is troubling, and certainly rubs away quite a bit of the shine from Chrysler's recently re-polished image. I guess many of us knew it wasn;t going to great for them, but I didn't think it was this bad.

[RJB]

Give me a helluva discount on a 06 Jeep TJ Rubicon and I'll make it 99,999! If they have a lot of those leftover anyway.

Edited October 24, 2006 by RJB

[turbo200]

The problem is they don't have desirable designs in their repertoire.

Outside of the LX cars, which are obviously not as desirable since the newness has worn off, they don't have attractive cars period. They have managed to make a couple successful designs here and there, new GC is one, but once you get over that, you still have a vehicle that feels and looks, inside at least, like it's a five year old car.

Is that a refreshed Durango up there? That looks worlds better than what was there before.

[Dragon]

and tahst why they are blacking out their plants for part of Nov. Even Brampton will be totaly blacked out for a week (including work being done on tooling upgrades for the Challenger)

[Cory Wolfe]

Why am I not suprised by this? Turbo said it perfectly. DCX is hurting.

[Flybrian]

Chrysler is like a roller coaster.

K-cars and minivans saved them, but they languished

LH-cars and new vans saved them, but they languished

LX-cars saved them, but they're languishing.

Notice a pattern? The first half of each decade is Chrysler's heyday; the latter, doldrums.

Its almost 2007. Back to the methadone clinic.

[Intrepidation]

Is that a refreshed Durango up there? That looks worlds better than what was there before.

208081[/snapback]

Yup, it looks light years better...amazing what a good nose job will do.

The LX cars still sell well, but the new minivans and teh Avenger can't come soon enough. The Nitro will help but from what TCC reported, the handling isn't great...maybe in R/T form but that's it.

DCX's problem is that they were too slow to revamp their car lineup outside the LX cars, and that interior materials have been crappy lately. They neeed to cut Durango production way back, and the Dakota too...does that even sell well?

Their other problem is stupid designs/cars that amek it to production. Case in point: the Compass. And teh Sebring isn't exactly pretty.

[BrewSwillis]

Why am I not suprised by this? Turbo said it perfectly. DCX is hurting.

208141[/snapback]

Turbo is just making things up. LX sales are up 24% over last year. I would hardly say that the LX's qualify as "obviously not as desirable since the newness has worn off".

I like how everyone is trying to convince themselves that the LX sales are fading. You guys are worse than the auto mags who continue to drone on about "Japanese quality". I guess if you say it enough, it will become a fact......even though the numbers will continue to tell the real truth.

Edited October 24, 2006 by BrewSwillis

[Intrepidation]

Damn, look at the Charger sales...

If all DCX's vehicles were as good as the LX's...they wouldn't have a problem.

Come to think of it, DCX needs a better crossover to compete with the Lambadas.

[Cory Wolfe]

Turbo is just making things up.  LX sales are up 24% over last year.  I would hardly say that the LX's qualify as "obviously not as desirable since the newness has worn off".

I like how everyone is trying to convince themselves that the LX sales are fading.  You guys are worse than the auto mags who continue to drone on about "Japanese quality".  I guess if you say it enough, it will become a fact......even though the numbers will continue to tell the real truth.

208222[/snapback]

*Ahem* It's been proven before that they're fleeting more of them, too. Also, you're ignoring the fact that the Charger wasn't out for a full year, last year... Duh, sales are going to be up for this year. Disclude the Charger and suddenly sales are down. 149,055 to 138,753. Then factor in the increase in fleet sales and they're down even more. Ouch. Turbo, nor anyone else here is making crap up. Must suck to be a DCX fan.

[VenSeattle]

*Ahem* It's been proven before that they're fleeting more of them, too. Also, you're ignoring the fact that the Charger wasn't out for a full year, last year... Duh, sales are going to be up for this year. Disclude the Charger and suddenly sales are down. 149,055 to 138,753. Then factor in the increase in fleet sales and they're down even more. Ouch. Turbo, nor anyone else here is making crap up. Must suck to be a DCX fan.

208234[/snapback]

Yep... Jan-June'06, Fleet sales:

300: 27.5%

Charger: 34.3%

Magnum: 49%

compared to Jan-June'05 Fleet sales:

300: 21.1%

Charger: --.-%

Magnum: 31.7%

And you know a large part of that 100k mentioned in the article are 300s, possibly Chargers and Magnums too. Chrysler was counting on those being hot sellers during the return of "Employee Pricing" ... which they weren't. Sales barely rose above 2005 levels for the 300 (it wasn't included in the original promotion.)

[BrewSwillis]

*Ahem* It's been proven before that they're fleeting more of them, too. Also, you're ignoring the fact that the Charger wasn't out for a full year, last year... Duh, sales are going to be up for this year. Disclude the Charger and suddenly sales are down. 149,055 to 138,753. Then factor in the increase in fleet sales and they're down even more. Ouch. Turbo, nor anyone else here is making crap up. Must suck to be a DCX fan.

208234[/snapback]

The Charger has taken away some Magnum, and possibly even some 300 sales.....so you can't exclude the Charger's sales.....and as a result, overall LX sales are up this year.

Fleet sales are still sales, and the increases are not that big. It just proves how desirable and reliable the vehicles are.

[Cory Wolfe]

Wow... biggest case of denial ever.

[sciguy_0504]

I'd still purchase any of the LX cars if I had the cash and was in the market.

I think the problem is a lack of advertising. I haven't seen anything besides print ads in MT and the occasional billboard.

[Dragon]

What I find interesting is that DCX would rather work weekend OT at Brampton and then shutter the plant, instead of cutting bak on the weekend shifts and not shuttering the plant for a week

[jbartley]

that's right, blame fuel prices, when it's really your ugly vehicles fault.