Report: Chrysler to unveil electric car

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Sept. 20 (UPI) -- Detroit automaker Chrysler, facing bankruptcy speculation and criticism for a lack of exciting products, will unveil an electric car next week, sources say.

Chrysler dealers from around the United States plan to flock to movie theaters Tuesday to watch a presentation from the company's Auburn Hills, Mich., headquarters that will include a new electric car, The Detroit Free Press reported Saturday.

The newspaper said the surprise move seems designed to generate a buzz of hope around Chrysler, which, after going private last year, has drawn a veil of secrecy around its finances and its product development.

"I think what they want to do is be able to sort of give a state of the state and a confidence-building message," Bill Golling of Golling Chrysler Jeep Dodge in Bloomfield Hills told the Free Press.

Industry sources say the automaker began showing select dealers three "post-prototype" electric cars recently. The move comes one week after General Motors Corp. revealed its electric-drive Chevrolet Volt, which is expected to be ready by late 2010.