The incentive war is on. Chrysler's Miles of Freedom incentive ups the ante.

The program offers:

A debit card for $2,400 -- the amount of money Chrysler calculates is needed to buy 12,000 miles worth of gasoline for two years at the Chrysler group's corporate average fuel economy rate of 21.8 mpg. The plan is based on a $2.15 per gallon price of gasoline.

Free scheduled maintenance for as many as 24,000 miles.

A five-year, 60,000-mile full mechanical warranty, compared with the standard three-year, 36,000-mile warranty.

Excluded from the program are the 2005 and 2006 Chrysler 300; Dodge Viper, Magnum, Charger and Sprinter; and all SRT8 vehicles.

Customers can choose existing Chrysler rebates instead of the program. Those rebates range from $1,000 to $7,000 cash back on 2005 and 2006 models.

Reuters - http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/051117/autos_chrys...tives.html?.v=2
AutoNews (sub only) - http://www.autonews.com/news.cms?newsId=13848

Wonder why one can't get it on a gas-chugging Hemi powered Charger SRT-8? :P

I can see $2400 in free gas getting a lot of people's attention.

Everyone could use it.

There is a bottom-feeder import brand doing this also; hyundai? suzuki?

Yes, the $2400 in gas gets everyone's attention and will get people into dealerships, but the question is will they stay when they find out the car they came in for (see list above) isn't included in the promotion? I can't believe the lowly Stratus or Neon would sell in huge quantities off the halo effect, when there is so much other, newer, better competition.

Edited November 17, 200519 yr by mrfunji

There is a bottom-feeder import brand doing this also; hyundai? suzuki?

[post="44627"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Mitsubishi

It makes sense for people buying gas-guzzlers like the obese Ram Mega Cab.., I guess

The gas incentive does not make sense to me. The consumer is still paying for it by buying a vehicle with an inflated sticker. The benefit slowly accrues over two years. Why would anybody want this over an instant rebate?

The gas incentive does not make sense to me.  The consumer is still paying for it by buying a vehicle with an inflated sticker.  The benefit slowly accrues over two years.  Why would anybody want this over an instant rebate?

[post="44740"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

It's all perception vs. reality which is what this business is all about. If you make somebody believe they are getting a deal, by GOD they are getting that deal in their head and will not see the short term consequences.

Nothing more or less.

Really? Sebring and Stratus have always sold okay, not great, but that's also because of their lack of advertising since their 2001 redesign. And their sales surge I guess is because the Neon's dead, and these mid-sizers are the smallest of a 2-3-passenger car lineup. Probably a good short-term move.

It's all perception vs. reality which is what this business is all about. If you make somebody believe they are getting a deal, by GOD they are getting that deal in their head and will not see the short term consequences.

Nothing more or less.

[post="44816"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

Josh's 100% right.
It's the same thing as value-pricing a car at say $25K, or pricing it at $30K with a $5K cash-back. You end up with the same deal, but the appeal of the "$5K cash-back" phrase is greater.

Must be working somewhat well. The Sebrings and Stratus' are flying off the local lots.

[post="44748"]<{POST_SNAPBACK}>[/post]

...and right into the hands of Enterprise, Alamo, and Dollar.

Nissan is also doing this, at least on a dealership level as the local ones are advertising free gas for a year.

If I were DCX, I'd give away $2400 worth of MOPAR parts and after warranty service...

Yeah, for a spare tranmission and a trailer to keep it close by!

We are getting our Sprinter van next week our second one it took six months to get it too . Why do they never do that stuff with stuff we buy. Someone else always gets the damn deal, my luck I guess.