Mumbai: US automaker Chrysler LLC will streamline its vehicle lines, to avoid overlap among brands, and reduce number of dealers by encouraging combined sales of Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep brands.

Chrysler said it planned to stop production of some vehicles that compete with other brands and to become a smaller, profitable company.

Chrysler's vehicle line-up and dealer network could support annual production of 4 million vehicles, whereas it sells just about 1.5 million.

While the dealer consolidation would bring all three Chrysler brands under one roof, its president Jim Press said, production needs to be sized to sell about 2.5 million.

While Chrysler earlier said it would cut a few slow-selling models, Press would not say just how deep the cuts might be for the automaker.

"The product portfolio has to consolidate …We don't know how many models we're going to have. Nobody knows that," Press said at a JD Power and Associates meeting.

Chrysler builds over 30 models of cars, minivans and trucks and has around 3,600 dealers, Press said, adding some of the models compete with each other.

Chrysler, since its acquisition by Cerberus Capital Management last summer, has sharpened focus on vehicle lineup and customer care.

About 55 per cent of its dealers now carry all three of its Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge brands. Currently, a dealership might carry one or two of the brands, but not necessarily all three at the same location. To be effective at current sales volumes, all three brands need to be under the same roof, Press said.

Press said Chrysler had 75 per cent of the dealers while it had only a 48 per cent share of the market.

Chrysler will discuss details on real estate and other issues with dealers in each market, he said.