After an initial trial run in December 2008 yielded a significant boost in lagging sales, Chrysler has announced they will be expanding their “Invest In America” loan partnership program to allow nationwide participation. Organized by the Lansing, MI-based Michigan Credit Union League (MCUL), “Invest In America” is an incentive program that provides either $500 or $1,000 “Credit Union Member Cash” discounts to any credit union members who use MCUL to finance the lease or purchase of a new Chrysler vehicle. The discounts are redeemable on most Chrysler, Dodge, and Jeep vehicles, and are offered as an addition to the hefty purchase incentives already offered by Chrysler.

“Chrysler joined the ‘Invest in America’ program in December as a pilot initiative, and the result was a significant sales lift in the participating states,” said Steven Landry, Executive Vice President of North American Sales, Marketing and Mopar Parts and Service for Chrysler LLC. “Financing is a critical concern right now, and the program provides considerable value to our credit union customers and the economy. We are glad that we are now able to offer it nationally.”

David Adams, president and CEO of MCUL and CUcorp, is enthusiastic about Chrysler’s decision to launch to program nationwide. “The ‘Invest in America’ partnership is very timely for domestic automakers,” explained Adams. “The exclusive credit union member discounts, along with credit union financing, creates a great opportunity for 90 million credit union members nationwide to purchase a new vehicle. The traffic on the lovemycreditunion.org Web site in four weeks has been overwhelming. Consumers are looking for new vehicles and we hope with credit union credit available they can now purchase those new cars and trucks.”

Scheduled to run through June 30, 2009, an average of 8,000 total credit unions (including UAW credit unions) will participate in the program, providing credit union members and potential Chrysler customers with access to a total of $80 billion in auto loans.

Source: Chrysler