AUBURN HILLS, MICH. — Firing a surprise shot across the bows of industry rivals, Chrysler revealed three functioning battery-powered vehicles Tuesday and thrust itself to the forefront of the race to build mass-market electric cars.
In unveiling a minivan, a Jeep Wrangler and a sports car, Chrysler's executives spelled out plans for a future in which most, if not all, automobiles would use electric motors for propulsion -- essentially sounding the death knell for the internal-combustion engine.
Chrysler declined to say how much the vehicles would cost and would not discuss which would be released first. But the third-largest U.S. automaker said that it would put hundreds of electric cars in test fleets next year and would bring one of the models to market by late 2010, with more electric cars to follow soon thereafter.
"We're not talking about a single electric car," said Robert Nardelli, chief executive of Chrysler. "We're talking about a full line of cars that . . . allows us to be energy-independent going forward."
That such news came from Chrysler, the industry's downtrodden underdog -- and the carmaker with the heaviest reliance on large pickup trucks and SUVs -- was almost astonishing. The smallest of the Big Three has seen its sales slip 24% so far this year, has been forced to end its once-lucrative leasing program and has all but ceded production of small cars to other automakers.
"I didn't think they were a player," said Jim Hossack, vice president at industry consultancy AutoPacific. "I'm impressed. This suggests a lot of bravado."
While other automakers, from Toyota Motor Corp. to Renault, have made increasingly loud noises in recent months about producing electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles, Chrysler has been almost invisible, doing little more than presenting a trio of electric concept cars in January.
As a result, Tuesday's unveiling blindsided much of the industry. Just a week ago, General Motors Corp. unveiled its production prototype of the much-hyped Chevy Volt. But unlike Chrysler's offerings, the Volt was not operational.
Some observers remarked on the timing of Chrysler's announcement. In recent weeks, Chrysler, GM and Ford Motor Co. have been arguing that Congress should fund $25 billion worth of loan guarantees written into last year's energy act. Those loans were designed to help automakers and suppliers pay for the costs of retooling factories to build vehicles that would comply with new, stricter federal fuel economy standards. But the loans were never funded.
