Chrysler officials announced a new promotion yesterday that claims to offer consumers protection from high fuel prices. The Auto Channel explains, "During the month of May, Chrysler will offer consumers a choice of new vehicle purchase incentives; Cash, APR or participation in the new 'Fuel Protection' bonus." The "Let's Refuel America" campaign "gives buyers of many new Chrysler, Dodge or Jeeps 3 years of 2.99 gasoline. Each qualifying buyer will get a 'gas card' that has been linked to their own credit card, but when they gas-up they will only pay $2.99 a gallon with Chrysler charged the difference." The offer is not available on many Chrysler models -- "The program is limited to 'fuel efficient' models and limits each buyer to the discounted price on only 12,000 miles worth of fuel each year."
The Detroit Free Press lists eligible models. They do not include the SRT editions of any vehicle, nor many large trucks or SUVs. A few surprises are included, such as the large Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger, all Chrysler minivans and even the Dodge Ram large truck and Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV.
Autoblog comments, "This is one hell of a deal, if it doesn't drive Chrysler into bankruptcy, which is a distinct possibility. Because there is no way of knowing what fuel costs will be over the next three years, Chrysler can't estimate the cost."
However, Chrysler has suffered the worst sales of the big three Detroit-based automakers this year, seeing a sales decline of nearly 30 percent in April.
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