Chrysler offers $3/gallon gas for 3 years on new cars

Chrysler is offering new car buyers a gas card which will allow the car owner to be charged $3/gallon and the remainder to be charged to Chrysler over a 3 year period.

From an environmental standpoint, this is obviously a sh***y incentive.  It will motivate people to buy less fuel efficient cars and drive them more during the 3 year period.  This will also increase the demand for gas, causing the price to increase further, so everyone who doesn't own a new Chrysler is screwed.  Though perhaps the increased prices will cause non-Chrysler owners to decrease their fuel consumption, offsetting the Chrysler owner mileage increase.

Thoughts?

Edited by dana1981 - Thu, 8 May 2008 18:37:14 UTC

Yeah, it certainly won't motivate people to buy efficient cars or drive less, that's for sure.  It's kind of a shame people like gimmicks.  I also love how it's called the "Let's Refuel America Gas Card."  Ridiculous.

Not only that, but it's a raw deal for consumers, too.  As pointed out on Ecogeek, this incentive will save buyers about $1-2,000.  In comparison, the cash incentives on the Dodge Ram and Durango are $5,000.  And making the cars a bit more fuel efficient would save the same amount of money on gas without encouraging increased consumption.

Apparently GM tried an everlasting $2/gallon gas incentive a few years back and it was a complete flop, so hopefully that will be the case again with Chrysler.

 Chrysler is showing their desperation with hubris of consumer ignorance with this move.  The American car companies hedged all their bets on an infinity supply of cheap gasoline.  Now, we are beginning to see that gasoline is going to cost more, thereby, every aspect of our lives is going to cost more.  GM did their best to eliminate public transit as any viable means of transportation.  Now, we are finding with record prices on gasoline, a return to public transit.  Our entire way of living is going to have to change if we are to ever move beyond oil as our primary energy source.  Our economic might relies on the notion of cheap infinite oil.  With the rude awakening of high energy prices, its time we move beyond cheap gimmicks to sell inferior products and start banding together to combat the problem head on.

Thank you for the post!  I wish people could understand what a raw deal this is for consumers....but I suppose only time will tell if this is turns out to be a wash or not....

Good post and comments. This is a prime example of backward-thinking business luring consumers alarmed over the price of gas into a dead end. We get this sort of thing from Chrysler and the whole "gas tax holiday" BS from Hillary and McCain - which fortunately people aren't buing into.  I hope people  can see past the gimmick Chrysler is trying to foist upon us. 

Cheap gas is a cheap (as in poorly built) auto is not the way toward a sustainable economy and stable climate - nor will it save Chrysler in the long run.

You've really hit the crux of the argument, in regards to Chrysler!  Good points!  I was very happy to see that the majority of the American public saw through the "gas tax holiday" scam.  Hopefully we'll see a repeat with Chrysler's initiative.

hahaha, whos going to buy a crystler? this gas card is such a scam to the unsophisticated buyer, 3 bucks a gallon may seem like a deal, but the cost of owning a crystler itself can be very costly not just because they are not fuel efficent, because of the consistent issues of realibility.

Just as an update, the promotion appears to be failing.

"To help boost sales, Chrysler said it would extend its $2.99 per gallon gasoline price guarantee through July 31. The guarantee lasts for three years, with Chrysler paying the difference between $2.99 and the pump price for 12,000 miles per year. It had been scheduled to expire July 7.

Even with the promotion, which had been in effect since early May, Chrysler's car sales were off 48.5 percent, while truck sales were down 30.1 percent."

Of course, car sales for all automakers are down, but Chrysler more than most.  Looks like once again the 'cheap gas' gimmick has failed.