Stibel said the "Ask Dr. Z" campaign with Zetsche sets Chrysler apart from the rest of car advertising, which he said is "rather benign."

Bernacchi said that as the economy has become more globalized and as foreign automakers have set up plants in the U.S., thoughts of "Buy American" have waned because no one's really sure what that means.

"More and more, we ask those questions less and less," he said.

Plus, market research shows that people base their buying decisions on value and quality rather than where a product is made, he said.

Chrysler is just now starting to measure how effective the Zetsche ads are in the U.S. and Canada, the only places they are airing thus far.

Chrysler's U.S. sales dropped 15.5 percent in June compared with the same month of 2005, but the company has introduced employee discounts for all on most models in hopes of boosting July numbers.

At Big Valley Dodge in Van Nuys, Calif., customers haven't been talking much about Zetsche, but they are interested in German engineering, says Bob Gray, the general manager.

Because people have a positive image of German designs and Mercedes automobiles, the ads already have begun to attract younger clientele to Dodge, says Gray.

"The Dodge product was sort of, I think it went by the way of Oldsmobile and Buick" which have traditionally attracted older buyers, Gray said. "Now you're getting a little bit more of a younger group."