• by Karl Greenberg , June 25, 2012

Chrysler is taking its vehicles on the road to employees both at Chrysler facilities and also at the companies that supply technology and components to Chrysler vehicles. The traveling showroom comprises a 19-week tour to Chrysler Group, its affiliate companies, and supplier employees, and gives them a chance to test drive different models. 

Nearly 22,500 people participated in last year's road tour, and 1,115 of them took a test drive. The 95-stop tour kicks off this week with a visit to the IAC Group in Southfield, Mich. The half-day event takes place at a company's headquarters where employees eat lunch, take a test drive, talk to product specialists, and learn about vehicle discount information.

The tour includes build-your-own-vehicle kiosks, brand immersion centers, Uconnect in-vehicle telematics presentations, event giveaways and a daily grand prize. This year's tour also features a lowered-floor Chrysler Town & Country or Dodge Grand Caravan minivan.

Local dealers provide additional Chrysler Group models for test drives at each location.

The static vehicle displays feature the Chrysler 200 and 300, Jeep Grand Cherokee and Wrangler, Dodge Dart, Challenger R/T, Charger Super Bee, Fiat 500 Abarth and Lounge, and Ram 1500.

A spokesperson for Chrysler sales operations tells Marketing Daily that the program is aimed at building awareness, and is paired with employee discount offers on Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, and Fiat vehicles. "We started it last year as a way to roll out new products to employees and suppliers and affiliate companies for greater product awareness. We do this all over the country, by business centers of which we have nine now; each region encompasses a number of states." He says dealers, who are not considered employees, participate as suppliers. 

"We are expecting, based on the first stops, that we will surpass the number of visits we got last year," he says of the program, which runs through the end of October.