Chrysler’s 800-unit hybrid program

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Oops. When we at Up to Speed said that Chrysler didn’t make any hybrids, we were wrong.

This morning, the Big Three execs showed up in Washington in alternative powertrain-dappled glory. GM’s Rick Wagoner rolled up in a Chevy Cruze prototype stapled to a Chevy Volt powerplant. Chrysler’s Bob Nardelli arrived riding shotgun in a Jeep Wrangler electric vehicle, and Ford’s Alan Mulally turned upin a Ford Escape hybrid.

Wagoner drove most of the way from Detroit in a Chevy Malibu hybrid, then switched over to the Volt-Cruz Frankenstein a mile or two from the Capitol. Nardelli drove a Chrysler Aspen hybrid before switching to the Jeep at the end of the trip.

The choice of the Aspen struck us as ironic because we said Chrysler would not be producing the thing commercially since it is closing the plant where they are made.

Wrong, said Chrysler spokesman Rick Deneau. In fact, Chrysler is cranking out the Aspen hybrid...

and its Dodge Durango hybrid sister and will continue to do so until the Newark, Del., plant that makes them closes Dec. 19. ‘The fact is that we are building them,’ said Denau, who conceded that after that date, the two vehicles would become extinct.

So how many of the hybrids will be built when it’s all said and done? About 800, Deneau said.

And how many have made their way to dealership lots to date? ‘Less than 100,’ said Stuart Schorr, another Chrysler spokesman.

That volume seems more like a pilot project than a true production run. Heck, General Motors built more of its legendarily scarce EV1 electric cars when it introduced them for a test lease program about a decade ago.

A final comparison. Ford has sold 16,067 of its Escape hybrids through November. With the market set to finish the year around 13 million units this year, Chrysler’s hybrids stand a decent chance to grab a .006% share of the overall market.

Our bad.

—Ken Bensinger

Top photo: Bob Nardelli, Chrysler’s chairman and chief executive gets out of an electric Jeep Wrangler on Wednesday in Washington, D.C.

Bottom photo: A funeral for GM’s EV1 electric car.