As if battling waning consumer wasn’t bad enough, automakers are also facing a sharp increase in commodity prices. Many automakers have already announced price increases to offset the higher raw materials costs and Chrysler will follow suit for the rest of 2008 and on into 2009.

The number three U.S. automaker has announced that it will raise pricing by 2 percent across the board beginning June 16. The announcement was made to dealers last week by Chrysler co-president Jim Press and Chrysler’s North American sales head, Steve Landry.

“The average 2 percent increase brings total model year price increases in line with key competitors,” Chrysler spokesman Stuart Schorr told Automotive News. “It does not affect vehicles already in dealer inventory. Incentives would not be changed.”

The price hike will impact Chrysler vehicles built through the company’s summer buildout, and will continue on into next year.

Chrysler has already announced that the 2009 Dodge Challenger SRT8 will carry a $2,000 premium over the 2008 model, but that spike is well above the planned 2 percent increase. Since the Challenger is more of a niche vehicle, the extra 3.5 percent price increase is probably due more to high demand than high commodity prices.

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