Can Chrysler Keep It Up?

The Jeep Grand Cherokee roared along the Andes mountain range in Argentina with Chrysler President Robert A. Lutz at the wheel. Lutz had come to South America to join journalists on an off-road trek and attend an auto show in Brazil. But as he gunned the Jeep down a dusty trail, he seemed oblivious to the scenery. He was preoccupied with a question that once would have been unthinkable back home in Detroit. "Where is it written that Chrysler has to be a permanent No.3 in the American market?" he said. "Who says we can't move up?"

A pipe dream? Perhaps. But with Chrysler Corp. racing to an all-time high of 16% of the U.S. auto and light- truck market, these are heady times for the smallest of the Big Three. With consumer demand leveling off and rebates on pricey American models intensifying, General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. increasingly seem stuck in neutral. But Chrysler continues to blow the doors off the competition.