Despite lower crude oil prices over the last several days, the Detroit automakers are still expecting gas prices to stay high for the foreseeable future. On Monday, Thomas LaSorda, CEO of the Chrysler Group, said that he expected gasoline prices to remain at $3 to $4 a gallon for the rest of this decade.

This is bad new for Chrysler, which depends more heavily on sales of pickup trucks and sport utility vehicles than any other Detroit automaker. And is also the first time any Detroit automaker has mentioned specific prices since the return of $3 gas.

While not citing a price range, Ford’s chief sales analyst, George Pipas, agreed that high gas prices are not temporary and that the automaker expects gas prices to remain high, volatile and unpredictable.

The comments indicate that Ford and Chrysler recognize that they may need wholesale changes in their products to put more emphasis on fuel-efficient vehicles, which General Motors says it already is making. Chrysler product mix is heavily skewed towards pickups, sport utility vehicles and minivans, with those models accounting for about 75 percent of its sales. Compare this to about two-thirds for the Ford Motor and about 60 percent of the vehicles sold by General Motors. Even lower are the lineups at Toyota, Honda and Nissan, which are still more than 50 percent cars, one reason Japanese auto companies have achieved sales records this year.

## Source: New York Times ##

Posted in: Industry, Fuel, Car Buying
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