Chrysler Dealers Eager To Start Anew In U.S.

. Chrysler Group's dealers are now rethinking expansion plans, which were put on hold earlier this year because the company is in limbo. This is their way of starting anew in the United States. "Do I go ahead with this plan? Do I wait and see?" said John Schenden, the president of Pro Chrysler-Jeep in Denver.This is welcome news to dealers who nearly revolted last year as the Auburn Hills automaker pushed them to order excess vehicles they couldn't sell.Chuck Fortinberry of Clarkston Chrysler Jeep was so moved that he commissioned a painting of a fluttering American flag emblazoned with the words "Bringing Back the Pride" to hang in his dealership. "There's a lot of pride that we're an American owned company again," Fortinberry said. The tensions led to the ouster late last year of Chrysler's top sales and marketing executive, Joe Eberhardt, an ex-Mercedes officer. "I was sort of dragging my feet a little bit." But when Daimler announced that it was selling the majority stakes of the Auburn Hills automaker to the New York-based private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management, the decision came swiftly.