DaimlerChrysler Cuts Prices on 2002 Chryslers, Jeeps

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. —  DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler unit on Thursday cut prices on next year’s models, including a $2,000 reduction on the 2002 Jeep Grand Cherokee, in an effort to increase sales and depend less on discounts.

The reductions average 0.9%, or about $199 a vehicle, and include a $1,200 markdown on the 2002 Chrysler 300M car.

Chrysler is betting that a lower base may draw more customers who compare prices on the Internet, which usually doesn’t show all the discounts.

“Some of our products were just too overpriced,” said George Murphy, Chrysler’s senior vice president of global marketing.

Murphy said the auto maker will continue to offer discounts, but at a lower level, on some other cars and trucks.

Jeep, a Chrysler mainstay for more than a decade, is contending with new sport-utilities from Honda Motor Co.’s Acura unit, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co.

Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokees also are being investigated by federal safety regulators because of complaints that the vehicles roll backward unexpectedly while parked.

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has received complaints from Cherokee owners of at least one death and more than 40 injuries.

On Tuesday, nine Cherokee drivers filed a lawsuit against the company in federal court in San Francisco, claiming that it knew of transmission defects in the sport-utilities but refused to recall them.

To help reverse a Jeep sales decline, Chrysler said it will offer new models at both ends of the price range: a $37,430 Overland Grand Cherokee model and a $18,995 Jeep Wrangler X.

DaimlerChrysler’s shares fell $1.20 to close at $43.82 on the New York Stock Exchange.