Chrysler has produced video footage calling on citizens to lobby the US government for an auto industry assistance package.

In the wake of falling sales that are currently at the lowest level since the mid 1980s, Chrysler is reminding the population of just how important the industry is to the country's economy.

The video quotes statistics such as the fact the auto industry directly and indirectly provides jobs for 4.5 million people -- the equivalent of the entire population of the state of Carolina -- with an annual payroll of US$22.2 billion.

On top of this is a total parts, services and materials bill of US$156 billion.

The video cites factors such as "uncertain fuel prices" and the current credit crisis as being responsible for the dramatic sales slump, while claiming the industry is "adjusting" its vehicles to "make sense for the times".

Chrysler has also just bowed out of a venture with German transmission builder Getrag, aimed at manufacturing energy-saving dual-clutch gearboxes at a recently-built but still unequipped plant in the US.

Getrag has just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection as both organisations are in the process of suing each other: Getrag for Chrysler's pulling out of the project, and Chrysler for what it claims is Getrag's failure to secure financing.

All this is against a backdrop of discussions between Chrysler's major stakeholder Cerberus Capital Management and General Motors that could see a merger of the two US carmakers.

With speculation that Cerberus is planning an exit from the car industry comes the fact that once-owner Daimler still owns a 19.9 per cent stake in Chrysler -- a situation that would likely need resolving prior to any deal with GM.

Could Chrysler in Australia eventually become one of GM's premium brands under the Holden umbrella? Stranger things have happened.

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