• Detroit Free Press , Wednesday, August 16, 2006 12:30 PM

The Ask Dr. Z ad campaign and a fresher lineup of vehicles should lift retail sales of Chrysler Group vehicles in August, according to George Murphy, svp of global brand marketing. On Tuesday, Chrysler added a sweepstakes component to the month-old $100 million Dr. Z initiative, which features DaimlerChrysler AG Chairman Dieter Zetsche. Nine vehicles will be given away through Labor Day to consumers who visit a Chrysler, Jeep or Dodge dealer. Chrysler is looking to new models such as the Dodge Caliber, Jeep Compass, Chrysler Aspen and Dodge Nitro to counterbalance weak SUV sales. The company brought back employee-pricing incentives on July 1. Overall, Chrysler sales, retail and fleet combined, are down 10 percent so far this year. Standard & Poor's downgraded DaimlerChrysler shares this week.

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