Chrysler was the only car company to actually see a US sales decrease in August, despite the Cash for Clunkers program. This was due to a lack of inventory to sell.

The company is getting ready to report a year-to-year sales loss  for the month of August, though sales were up a little bit over July. Having shuttered the factories for a couple of months shortly after the new owners, Fiat, took over, the dealers were very short on inventory to start the month and then were wiped out by the end of the month. They simply did not have enough vehicles to sell.

The company is now thrashing to get inventory levels up and has added overtime and extra shifts at several plants. But is it too late?

Here’s a Wall Street Journal piece on Chrysler’s unfortunate inventory timing.