Re: DCX News - "The Truck Craze"

From: David Fishman (fish@chips.Eng.Sun.COM)
Date: Tue Jan 05 1999 - 12:10:44 EST


=>From: David Fishman <fish@chips.Eng.Sun.COM>
=>
=>For you enjoyment...
=>
=>http://cbs.marketwatch.com/archive/19990104/news/current/dcx.htx?source=blq/yho
=>o&dist=yhoo

Well...that URL didn't quite come out right...so here's the text of the story:

    Chrysler Cherokee is truck of the year

    By Steve Gelsi, CBS MarketWatch Last Update: 4:09 PM ET Jan 4, 1999
                                                           NewsWatch

    DETROIT (CBS.MW) -- A DaimlerChrysler marketing chief said the
    country's truck craze isn't over yet as the Jeep Cherokee won truck
    of the year honors from the trade press on Monday.

    DaimlerChrysler's (DCX) senior vice president of marketing A.C. Bud
    Liebler said the carmaker plans to plug the Grand Cherokee's title
    as 1999 North American Truck of the Year -- as voted by automotive
    journalists -- in upcoming ads by agency Bozell Worldwide.

    "We'll certainly let the world know about that," Liebler told
    CBSMarketWatch.com.

    DaimlerChrysler beat out General Motors' (GM) Chevy Silverado and
    Cadillac Escalade; BMW's Land Rover Discovery and Toyota's Lexus
    LX470. Volkswagen's New Beetle won car of the year.

    Shares of DaimlerChrysler jumped 5 5/8 or 6 percent to 101 11/16
    amidst a surge in European shares on Monday.

    Liebler, who was a Chrysler exec before the company's merger with
    Daimler-Benz last year, said the truck craze isn't over.

    "I'm reading that it's slowing down, but we don't see it," said
    Liebler, who added that the Dodge truck division has 25 percent
    market share, up from 6 percent in 1991. "Our trucks have stayed in
    hot demand. I don't know if it'll keep growing, but every time we
    bring out a new truck we haven't cannibalized on our existing truck
    sales."

    The company reaps about $9,000 in profit from every Jeep Grand
    Cherokee it sells, according to Lehman Brothers analyst Joe
    Phillippi. See related story.

    To keep the truck craze fresh, auto makers are incorporating more
    car-like features such as additional doors. Ford debuted four-door
    pickup trucks last year.

    On Monday, Dodge unveiled its four-door version of the Dakota
    pickup.

    Corporate ads

    Liebler said Chrysler and Mercedes have been talking about pooling
    resources to build a new truck, but so far no products have been
    announced.

    The newly merged company ran print ads touting the DaimlerChrysler
    name last year, but no more ads are planned right now, he said.

    As with the Ford Thunderbird and other automakers, DaimlerChrysler
    is tapping into the retro-styling craze with the PT Cruiser, now
    expected to go into production within the next 15 months.

    The vehicle taps into another trend of "hybrid" vehicles blending
    aspects of sedans and trucks. It's got a fold-down seat and the
    looks of a mini-van or station wagon.

    "We call it flexible activity vehicle," Liebler said. "It's too
    cool to categorize. It looks a little like a London taxi cab, but
    it's all American. Like the original Mazda Miata, you wanna hug
    it."

    Steve Gelsi is a reporter for CBS MarketWatch.



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