Chrysler LLC said Friday it is preparing to reveal some of its future plans to its dealers next week, and one dealer said they’ll get a look at the next-generation electric vehicles the automaker is developing.

Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep dealers will get “insight into our business strategies” Tuesday via videoconference at about 100 movie theaters across the U.S., Chrysler spokesman Stuart Schorr said.

DETROIT (Reuters) - Chrysler LLC has drawn interest from international and North American parties for the possible sale of its high-performance Dodge Viper sports car line, Vice Chairman and President Jim Press told reporters on Wednesday.

Chrysler in late August announced it was exploring the sale of the Viper sports car business as part of its effort to generate cash and ride out the deepening U.S. auto industry downturn. The Viper is a low-volume V10-powered sports car first produced in 1992.

German carmaker Daimler is joining forces with RWE, one of the country’s largest energy providers, to create a network of electric cars and charging stations in Berlin.

A select group of Berlin motorists will get subsidized electric cars as part of an experiment launched Friday, Sept 5 by Daimler and leading German energy company, RWE.

Honda Motor Co. passed Chrysler LLC in August to grab fourth place in U.S. auto sales this year as cars won market share from trucks amid an industrywide slump.

Asia-based brands, led by Nissan Motor Co.’s 14 percent gain, raised their share of August U.S. sales to 47.3 percent, beating General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler for a fourth month, research firm Autodata Corp. said yesterday. While Toyota Motor Corp. and Honda fell, they dropped less than the U.S. trio.

Chrysler has completed its program to eliminate the use of lead wheel weights from its vehicles, switching to more eco-friendly substitutes in its products sold world-wide.

The move is said to put Chrysler in full compliance with a voluntary program announced by the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) in Detroit. The national lead-free wheel weight initiative calls for elimination of lead wheel weights in vehicles by the end of 2011.

German stocks pared earlier gains as Commerzbank AG, Infineon Technologies AG and Fresenius Medical Care AG retreated.

The benchmark DAX Index was little changed at 6,421.44 as of 5:11 p.m. in Frankfurt after rising as much as 0.6 percent. The HDAX Index of the country’s 110 biggest companies added 0.2 percent to 3,297.12.

INDIANAPOLIS — “The World’s Home of the Figure 8” announced today that Eastgate Chrysler will provide four beautiful convertibles for this years 32nd Annual World Figure 8 Championship on September 6th. These high-end automobiles will carry the starting field of drivers around the track on a series of parade laps to greet the fans during driver introductions. This gesture gives fans a last chance to let their favorite drivers hear their support and gives the 33 starters the acknowledgement they deserve before the fireworks light up the night sky. We would like to thank the folks at Eastgate Chrysler for their support in this the “Greatest Event on the Planet”.

The effects of gasoline prices that have doubled in just three years will be more evident than ever over the next two years as a parade of more fuel-efficient cars and light trucks reaches American showrooms.

The trend reflects what experts and automakers believe is a permanent change in automotive tastes among Americans stung by $4-plus-a-gallon gasoline while they struggle with rising food prices and declining home values. “I think we’re looking at a permanent shift toward more fuel-efficient vehicles,” said Jeff Schuster, executive director of forecasting for the consumer market research firm J.D. Power and Associates. “Not all of it is permanent - some is temporary due to the economic environment.”

After Thursday’s resolution of one of the most aggressive takeover battles seen by corporate Germany in recent times, Daimler, the only European car maker without any big or majority stake holders, emerged as a vulnerable prey.

As a result, speculation mounted that the maker of Mercedes-Benz may spin off its market-leading trucks business as a way to help boost its weak share price, according to a report in Germany’s Manager Magazine, which did not identify its sources.

Chrysler LLC has decided to keep its requirement that all workers take the same two-week summer vacation.

The company told employees by e-mail on Wednesday that the 2009 summer break will take place the weeks of July 13 and 20.

The struggling automaker told workers in March that it would require all of them to take the same two weeks off this year.