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February 8, 2008
Chrysler is changing faster than you can say Mitt Romney.
The company, which was taken private by Cerberus Capital Management last year, says it plans to cut its range of models by as much as half and reduce the number of its dealerships by much as a third, according to the Detroit Free Press.
All this comes under a recently announced Project Genesis, as in beginning. Project Genesis replaces Project Alpha, as in beginning, which called for dealers to sell its Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands under one roof.
Those initiatives follow the elimination of 12,000 jobs announced in November, following the elimination of 13,000 jobs announced last February.
The company also dropped four models in November, including the Chrysler Crossfire and Dodge Magnum.
While Romney’s presidential candidacy partly foundered on shattered credibility as he flipped former moderate positions to suit conservative voters, the moves by Chrysler are an aggressive effort to get on the same playing field with Asian manufacturers.
Analysts have argued, for example, that over half of domestic dealerships, which sell an average of 600 vehicles a year, need to be closed in order to compete with import dealerships, which average more than 1,200 sales.
Hopefully Chrysler’s changes will have the opposite effect from the reaction to Romney’s shifts and increase its credibility with the consumer.
Posted by Peter C. T. Elsworth 
at 12:16 PM to Chrysler
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