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Article: Chrysler hangs onto its profitable GEM.(News)(Global Electric Motorcars L.L.C.)(Company overview)
- Article from:
- Automotive News
- Article date:
- May 5, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 Crain Communications, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Byline: Bradford Wernle
When Daimler and Chrysler divorced last summer, Chrysler kept a small but significant subsidiary.
With gasoline prices soaring and no relief in sight, Chrysler's Global Electric Motorcars could come in handy as appetites grow for alternative-power vehicles. GEM, a wholly owned Chrysler subsidiary in Fargo, N.D., makes low-speed neighborhood electric vehicles, powered by lead acid batteries.
"Gasoline is approaching $4 a gallon,'' says GEM President Rick Kasper. "When we started this venture, it was $1.25.''
Neighborhood electric vehicles are electric vehicles restricted to 25 mph. Federal law permits them to ...