Less is More

Part of Chrysler's rebound will involve building fewer cars. An excerpt from Business Week:

Cutting production may seem like part of the basic nuts and bolts of running a carmaker, but it lies at the heart of what has been wrong with Chrysler and the U.S. car business. Up until recently, Chrysler's strategy was to go to market with unrealistic sales expectations, given the quality of its cars and weakness of its brands.

When sales fell short of projections, the company would keep building the cars and trucks, cajoling dealers to take them and find a way to sell them. If they couldn't, bigger rebates or unprofitable sales to rental fleets would follow. That build-and-they-will-buy mentality drove Chrysler's prices down and sent the company reeling into the red.