U.S. sales plummeting, Chrysler’s chief says

After months of confident talk that Chrysler LLC anticipated the economic downturn better than other automakers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bob Nardelli told employees Tuesday, in a memo obtained by the Free Press, that the last few months — and this month in particular — have been even worse than Chrysler anticipated.

Industry-wide sales so far in June have been about 20% worse than Chrysler's expectations for the year, according to the memo.

Nardelli didn't indicate or threaten any job or production cuts like those under way at rivals, but experts saw the message as an ominous sign that the privately held automaker may have to do more.

"I don't think he would really address that unless they were getting some pretty dismal signals that said that we're going to have to prepare for the worst," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research.