Jeep Toys for Tots, Memphis 99GCs, Incentives Falling

George at the Blue Mountain Jeep Alliance wrote in to let us know about a Toys for Tots event taking place in a few weeks in Reading, PA. On November 8, 1998 at noon, there will be a gathering of Jeep Clubs from the entire northeast at the Reading Municipal Stadium (on Route 61, just south of Route 222) followed by a trail ride. If you are planning on attending, please bring a toy or a donation for the Toys for Tots program. For more information, call George at 610-914-2587.

One of our regular sources emailed us with this report of a bevy of 99GCs sighted in Memphis

I got to drive a 4.7 Limited in Memphis over the weekend. One of the Jeep Dealers there had at least two dozen Laredo's, and a couple of Limiteds. They even had a few with sunroofs. Some of the Laredo's had the new V-8 & Quadra Trac II. Only one of the limiteds had the new V-8. They had no Quadra Drives (Vari-Lok Axles and Quadra Trac II). I drove the limited V-8, and it was Sweet! It had a nice exhaust note. Not as loud as the 5.9 of '98, but still very nice. The acceleration was almost as good. In fact it seemed to be much smoother. I am going to try to order one very soon.

Chrysler reported that incentives for new vehicles will be coming down in the fourth quarter...

Chrysler Corp. Chief Financial Officer Gary Valade said the No. 3 U.S. automaker's fourth-quarter average U.S. retail incentives should fall to $1,100 to $1,200 per vehicle from $1,280 at the end of the third quarter.

The third quarter incentives were up from the same period last year when the company reported $1,140 a vehicle, but down from $1,485 in the second quarter this year.

Chrysler reported record third-quarter net earnings and revenues on Monday. Its net income rose 55 percent to $682 million, or $1.02 per diluted share, from $441 million, or 65 cents a share, in the same period last year. Revenues rose to $15 billion from $13.2 billion last year.

Wall Street analysts had expected Chrysler to report earnings of 87 cents a share, and Valade told reporters during a conference call that the company exceeded expectations partly because analysts had overestimated how high Chrysler incentives would be in the quarter.

"We had a good mix of products and the launches went better than expected, particularly WJ, he said, referring to the code name for the all-new 1999 Jeep Grand Cherokee.