Chrysler Doesn’t Expect U.S. Industry Sales to Improve

Chrysler LLC, struggling through a 25 percent decline in its U.S. auto sales this year, doesn't anticipate that the industry's prospects in the market will improve in 2009, company President Jim Press said. “I don't see any `whys' why it's going to be any better,'' he told reporters today at the Paris Motor Show. “We're already adjusting to this level pretty well. We're learning how to fight through it. It's hand-to-hand combat. It's tough.''

Chrysler's U.S. sales decline this year is almost twice the industry's 13 percent drop. The Auburn Hills, Michigan-based automaker, owned by Cerberus Capital Management LP, has been hurt by slumping demand for large pickup trucks and sport-utility vehicles after gasoline prices hit $4 a gallon. Chrysler relies more on pickups, SUVs and vans than any other major automaker.

“We were given free rein to face reality'' under Cerberus, which bought 80.1 percent of Chrysler from Daimler AG in August 2007, Press said. Chrysler, the third-largest U.S. automaker, has cut sales to rental-car companies and other corporate fleets. The company also halted leasing by its financial arm, saying it would use those resources for incentives for buyers.