DETROIT – Just a few years ago, as it plunged into bankruptcy protection, Chrysler was a wreck of a company. But strong sales and hot new products have made the automaker the envy of Detroit.
And Chrysler's unlikely revival is accelerating, leaving General Motors and the Ford Motor Co. scrambling to catch up.
Chrysler, the smallest of the U.S. automakers, kicked off the annual Detroit auto show Monday with new versions of its Grand Cherokee and Compass SUVs. The two Jeep models have helped propel the company's strong sales growth since its government bailout and bankruptcy filing in 2009.
Chrysler outperformed the industry last year with a 20.6 percent increase in domestic sales in a market that grew by 13.4 percent. Its bread-and-butter products such as the Grand Cherokee and the Ram pickup had big gains, and new cars such as the Dodge Dart began to mitigate the company's traditional reliance on larger vehicles.
By comparison, sales increased just 3.7 percent at GM and 4.7 percent at Ford.
– New York Times
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