A few weeks ago I wrote that Chrysler had it all wrong. To paraphrase Bill Clinton’s campaign, “Its about retail stupid.” I wrote that Chrysler’s Dr. Z campaign was too cute during the cutthroat auto sales era. Advertising Age agreed and Chrysler didn’t. In fact, Chrysler doth protested a bit too much.

Well, the numbers are in. According to today’s New York Times:

“On Tuesday, Chrysler said it would cut its production schedule for the rest of the year by 16 percent because of slumping sales as a result of high gas prices. That comes on the heels of similar cuts at G.M. and Ford, which are both trying to restructure after billions of dollars in losses in the last year.”

When times are tough, go retail and drive the buyers into the store. I don’t have the numbers on this ad campaign but someone at Chrysler or their agency should be driven off the lot.

*See the post above.