• Wall Street Journal, Wednesday, June 9, 2010 10:41 AM

Chrysler will launch a national advertising campaign for the redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee later this month, Jeff Bennett reports, in the vanguard of an effort to reconnect with American consumers following the company's reorganization last year. Dealers have been pushing management to light a fire under its marketing efforts but CEO Sergio Marchionne has resisted until the company had new vehicles to crow about.

A campaign that announces only that Chrysler is back "is unnecessary," Marchionne tells Bennett. "You saw from the [U.S. auto sales] numbers that people are buying cars. They know we are back."

A dozen other restyled vehicles will be launched later this year or in early 2011, dealers say, including updated versions of the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger, a redesigned Dodge Durango, the 2011 Chrysler Town & Country minivan, the Dodge Avenger and the Chrysler Sebring, which reportedly will be renamed the Nassau. Most are expected to be backed by campaigns of their own.

Read the whole story at Wall Street Journal »