Chrysler boss not banking on recovery for auto industry

RRSTAR.COM STAFF AND THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Chrysler LLC Chairman and CEO Bob Nardelli says the automaker is prepared for a downturn in U.S. sales this year with layoffs and cuts in manufacturing and inventory.

Nardelli, who was speaking today at the New York International Auto Show, says Chrysler does not assume that the economy will recover in the second half of this year as many automakers have.

Chrysler reported earlier this month its overall sales were down 13.1 percent in January and February.

Chrysler is the largest manufacturing employer in the Rock River Valley with about 2,500 working at its assembly plant in Belvidere. Of course, that number is down from 3,600 at the start of the year. In early March, the company cut the plant from a three-shift operation to two shifts.

Nardelli, who is a Rockford native and Rockford Auburn graduate, says Chrysler has seen some success outside North America, where sales rose 10 percent in the first two months of this year.

He says the automaker also has increased the number of dealerships outside North America by 17 percent between 2004 and 2007.

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