After 17 years selling cars in West Palm Beach, Fla., James Arrigo knows a thing or two about what consumers want. “There shouldn’t be 1,000 ways to order a minivan,” he says. And he’s tired of watching Chrysler botch the launch of critical new models like the Sebring, a midsize sedan. “It should be a front-runner in that segment, but because of quality and marketing issues, it doesn’t compete.”For years Arrigo and outspoken dealers like him have offered suggestions for how Chrysler could sell more vehicles and improve its image. Too often, especially in recent years, when Chrysler was owned by Germany’s Daimler, those ideas took a back seat to concerns about cost control or factory productivity.Now Chrysler has a new owner, new bosses and a newfound interest in what its dealers are saying. Between now and the end of the year Chrysler’s executives are hitting the road for a series of “fireside chats” with dealers to solicit feedback on how the company can turn its business around and simultaneously help dealers improve their profits.The discussions are needed to repair dealer relations after a disastrous 2006. Chrysler built more cars than it could sell, forcing dealers into a financial bind: They had to pay higher borrowing costs to carry the extra inventory yet offer bigger discounts to move unsold cars off their lots. “We couldn’t make any money,” explained Arrigo, who is president of the Chrysler-Jeep Dealer Council. As inventories piled up, he says, “dealers lost faith in the company.”The frosty relationship started to thaw in January, after Chrysler ousted its top sales and marketing executive and began putting in place more dealer-friendly policies. Under Cerberus Chrysler has accelerated those efforts. For example, Chrysler killed a controversial sales bonus program that pitted dealers against one another in price wars. Then it tripled the “goodwill allowance” dealers receive to take care of customer complaints after a car’s warranty has expired.”We need to reestablish a partnership with our dealers,” says Chief Executive Robert Nardelli. “Their objective has to be our objective. They’re an extension of our company. If they’re not profitable, we’re not profitable.”Arrigo is impressed with Cerberus’ moves so far. “They said, ‘We know we’ve got a problem with marketing –let’s hire the right people.'” Among them: Toyota veterans Deborah Wahl Meyer, now Chrysler’s chief marketing officer, and the folksy sales chief James Press, who pushed for these new meetings with dealers.Arrigo has plenty of advice. “I think we’ve got way too many products–products that overlap,” he says. Dodge, though, needs more entry-level vehicles. “So do we need these sport utilities that we’re not doing a great job with, like the Durango? Do we need an Aspen for Chrysler? Maybe Dodge has an eight-passenger SUV, and Chrysler has a seven-passenger, so there’s no overlap,” he says. Likewise, maybe Chrysler doesn’t need both a Dodge Nitro and a Jeep Liberty SUV. “Do we need hybrids? Yes. Diesels? Probably.”Noting that 70% of Chrysler’s sales are of trucks, SUVs and minivans, Arrigo says: “There’s a huge passenger-car market that we haven’t even begun to touch.”For all the problems, however, Arrigo is more optimistic than he’s ever been as a Chrysler dealer. “This new management understands that the consumer drives everything. The way you treat consumers today will determine the future of this company News source: Forbes