How Will Chrysler Boost Its Market Share? Sell More Cars, Of Course!

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne sounds tired sometimes. Literally tired from turning around Chrysler, and also tired of having to answer the same questions over and over. In response, he's been known to come up with what Mad magazine would call Snappy Answers to Stupid Questions.

He was asked in a Jan. 31 conference call for analysts and reporters: How can Chrysler hit the market share target he's laid out?

"There's an incredibly stupid and crass answer to that question, and that is to sell more cars," Marchionne said.

There are no stupid questions... wait
To be fair, it must have been the millionth time he's been asked some version of that question since Fiat took Chrysler under its wing in 2009. Specifically, Marchionne said Chrysler expects to sell 2 million cars and trucks worldwide in 2011.

That would be a giant increase of about 500,000 from 1.5 million in 2010. In turn, Chrysler's 2010 worldwide sales were about 15 percent ahead of 2009, a year that included Chrysler's bankruptcy.

In the conference call, a questioner did a back-of-the envelope calculation and figured Chrysler would need to gain a couple of percentage points of U.S. market share to hit that target. That's a big increase for a single year, to put it mildly.

Chrysler's U.S. market share, including the Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep and Ram truck brands, was 9.4 percent in 2010, up from 8.9 percent in 2009. That was no small achievement, but it's less than a 1-percent increase.

No, seriously
Seriously, how will Chrysler improve on that? In addition to his semi-facetious answer, Marchionne provided concrete reasons why Chrysler sales should improve more than they did in 2010. In the same conference call, he said:

• Chrysler has launched 16 new or facelifted cars in 12 months. That includes high-volume models like a redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee SUV and a redesigned Chrysler 300 car.
• About 130 U.S. dealers are expected to start selling the tiny Fiat 500 car in February or March. The Fiat 500 is part of a wave of new, fuel-efficient cars from nearly every manufacturer, not just Chrysler.
• Chrysler is also planning to increase spending on marketing and advertising, the company said. Not only that, Marchionne said 75 percent of Chrysler's U.S. showrooms have been renovated in the last 12 months.

"Give us some time and we'll see where the numbers end up," Marchionne said, in answer to more questions about sales and market share. "I can't give you any other answer."

Related:

• FIat CEO Insists Rapid Chrysler Turnaround is Do-Able
• Fiat is Re- Re- Re-Introducing Chrysler Brands in Europe
• Chrysler, Too, Is Adding Some Jobs as Part of Its Move to Smaller Cars