Chrysler offers up to $6,000 in incentives to move cars

— -- Chrysler said Wednesday that it is offering customers up to $6,000 worth of incentives on its 2009 cars and trucks as it races to emerge from bankruptcy protection and counter a prolonged U.S. sales slump.

The new incentives— which come off prices negotiated with dealers — are Chrysler's latest push to keep customers coming into its showrooms. They replace a promotion launched in January that included so-called employee pricing plus rebates and 0% financing.

Over the weekend, the company launched an advertising campaign that included full-page ads in newspapers across the country proclaiming it is "building a new car company."

The No. 3 U.S. automaker filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy last week and is trying to complete a sale of most of its assets to Italian automaker Fiat Group. It hopes to emerge from bankruptcy in 30 to 60 days and is working to allay consumer fears that its cars won't be backed by warranties. All of its factories have been idled.

Chrysler said the incentives, which began Wednesday, are aimed at reducing the bottom-line price of the car. They include $4,000 in cash, $1,000 for current Chrysler vehicle owners, and up to $1,000 for financing through participating credit unions.

With all the incentives, a 2009 Jeep Grand Cherokee with a sticker price of $31,230 would instead cost $25,230 — a discount of 19%. A Chrysler 300C would run $31,885 instead of $37,885, a 16% reduction. Not all models qualify for the full $4,000 cash back, spokeswoman Kathy Graham said.

Chrysler's sales are down 46% for the first four months of the year. The automaker has been subsisting on $4 billion in government loans. It filed for bankruptcy protection last Thursday after a handful of its creditors refused to accept a government-brokered deal that would have reduced the automaker's secured debt.

Meanwhile Wednesday, the names of nine dissident Chrysler debt holders were disclosed. And more than half of the parties that had opposed Chrysler's plan for a sale have dropped out of the group.