It’s a Buyers Market, A Great Time To Buy A New Car Because: Chrysler's Will Not Meet Goals

Because WSJ reported that top executives at DaimlerChrysler AG are concerned that the company's money-losing Chrysler unit may be unable to meet the financial targets that DaimlerChrysler outlined early this year.

While the sharp drop in U.S. auto sales since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks has darkened the auto industry's outlook, Chrysler was losing ground in a shrinking market even before then.

WSJ reported that during a meeting Wednesday at the Chrysler unit's headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich., the management board of the German-American automaker is expected to reassess earnings forecasts that the company issued in February as part of a broad corporate turnaround plan.

Those projections were based on the assumption that Chrysler would retain a 14 percent share of a market in which Americans would buy at least 16 million cars and light trucks this year.

Even before terrorist attacks, Chrysler was missing that market-share target. DaimlerChrysler said in February that its Chrysler unit would return to profitability during 2002, though it didn't indicate in which quarter. Now, those goals are looking harder to attain.