Chrysler introduces cheap gas incentive to buyers

Chrysler introduces cheap gas incentive to buyers

By Herb Weisbaum

Chrysler rolled out a bold new plan to boost sales. The company will give customers a way to buy cheaper gas.

It's an offer that's bound to get attention -- buy a Chrysler, a Dodge or a Jeep and you won't pay more than $2.99 a gallon for fuel for the next 36 months.

Chrysler calls it the Let's Refuel America Program. The nation's fourth automaker clearly hopes this unique incentive will get buyers into the showrooms and refuel lagging sales.

With gasoline prices rapidly approaching $4 per gallon, car sales are hurting. Roomy gas guzzlers have lost their appeal. Today's buyers want to know about miles per gallon.

Chrysler's lineup is heavy on trucks and sport utility vehicles -- one explanation for why its sales dropped 23 percent in April.

But even its fuel-efficient models, such as the Chrysler Sebring which gets up to 30 miles per gallon on the highway, haven't caught on with consumers.

Chrysler hopes its Let's Refuel America Program will jump start those sagging sales.

Here's the deal. Buy one of 23 Chrysler models and you won't pay more than $2.99 per gallon for the next three years.

In a video news release announcing the program on Monday, Chrysler President James Press explained how it works.

"They'll get a card in the mail that they can use at any gas station they want. And it will use the credit from their Visa or MasterCard. And when they put the card in, the cost of the fuel will be $2.99 to them and we'll get billed for the difference. They can use it for diesel or flex fuel or unleaded, whatever is specified with the vehicle," he said.

Now the fine print: the $2.99 gas is limited to 700 gallons each year, which Chrysler says should equal about 12,000 miles per year.

So how much will this deal save you if you buy a Chrysler product? The Associated Press did the math.

Let's say you bought a 2008 Dodge Durango with a V8 engine. It only gets 13 miles per gallon. At today's price of $3.61 a gallon, you'd save $414 the first year.

So when compared to some cash-back incentive offers, this really isn't that big of a deal.

And the gas giveaway incentive program is not likely to become a new trend in the car industry. AP reports that Ford, Toyota, GM and Honda have all said they will not adopt the idea. Suzuki, on the other hand, already has a free gas for the summer promotion.
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