By Associated Press
June 14, 2007

Dodge's director of brand marketing and communication says Chrysler's sale to a private equity firm, Cerberus Capital Management, won't change the carmaker's long-term relationship with NASCAR.

"I had the pleasure of going to Manhattan last week and I met the leadership team at Cerberus," Mike Accavitti said in a NASCAR teleconference.

Though the racing program wasn't specifically addressed, Accavitti said the 16 members of the Dodge dealers council also at the meeting were very supportive.

"They're our sounding board for the thoughts and ideas we have for all of our operations, including motorsports," Accavitti said. "The dealer council was very appreciative of our effort in motorsports. They're very supportive. They shared that with the gang at Cerberus, so I don't anticipate any change in our commitment in NASCAR.

"I've (said) before that it's a very important part of our marketing mix, that our participation in this sport brings brand awareness and attention and consideration and favorable opinion to the Dodge brand and all those things are very important.

He noted that a lot of NASCAR fans are also Dodge customers.

"I'd like a whole lot more of them to be Dodge customers," Accavitti said. "That's really where our focus is from a marketing and a support perspective and we continue to plan on being in NASCAR for the long term."

DaimlerChrysler AG said last week that it will sell 80.1 percent of its money-losing Chrysler Group to Cerberus for $7.4 billion. The new company will be called Chrysler LLC.

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