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Resisting the impulse to simply rebadge Isuzus, Daewoos, or Toyotas, General Motors has actually designed its own small cars and will be building them at the existing Lordstown plant. Production is scheduled for late 2004. GM will invest more than $500 million to renovate the assembly and stamping plants.
Does anyone remember the deal Juergen Schrempp outlined, where Mitsubishi and Hyundai/Kia would cover Asia, Mercedes and Mitsubishi would do Europe, and Chrysler and Mercedes would cover the Americas? That deal seems to have been worth about as much as the "merger of equals" slogan. First Mitsubishi announced that they would be taking a firmer stake in Canada, and yesterday Mitsubishi announced they would start selling in Mexico, using selected Chrysler dealers to market their cars.
Six Hemi-powered Dodge Neon R/Ts qualified at the NHRA Nationals at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, the first time in history that Dodge had qualified that many cars in one professional NHRA category. The race also marked the first time since the early 1970s that six Mopar-powered cars qualified for a NHRA Pro Stock field.
Mopar Parts Dodge Stratus R/T Nitro Funny Car driver Dean Skuza was 11th in points heading into the Western swing. After three-straight semifinal round appearances, Skuza goes into this weekend’s Rugged Liner NHRA Nationals at Brainerd International Raceway in the eighth slot.
Skuza moved into sixth place for the eight-car Budweiser Shootout. The Brecksville, Ohio, resident was teetering in the eighth spot heading into Seattle, but his recent success has solidified a chance at winning the Shootout during the 48th annual U.S. Nationals at Indianapolis Raceway Park.
Contributed by David Harris.
...are at ptcruizer.com
Not surprisingly, the "new vehicle" Chrysler was hinting at is yet another rendition of the PT Cruiser, this time the "Dream Cruiser Series II" with tangerine paint and a limited production of 7,500 units.
Chrysler is set to reveal a new small car tomorrow. This may be a concept of the next-generation Neon, it may be the SRT-10, it may be yet another PT variant, it may be something completely different. We'll know tomorrow.
(From a press release)
Sue Unger, Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer for DaimlerChrysler AG, said today that the Company's "technology tool box" is helping to improve processes and drive innovation through the global enterprise.
One of the tools critical to improving quality, value and speed to market is the Digital Factory. Chrysler is already doing virtual product development, using CATIA and digital mockup, but it doesn't stop there, said Unger. The goal is to have "an end-to-end solution, flowing from design and development to product planning and production." [This was a pre-takeover goal.]
The Toledo North Assembly Plant, home of the Liberty, was the first Chrysler facility built using manufacturing simulation for only $54 per square foot, an industry benchmark when compared to the industry average of $70-80 per square foot.
"Our global vision is that by 2005, every production factory will be planned, built, launched and operated first using full simulation, before going to bricks and mortar," Unger said. "Every digital vehicle must pass the Digital Factory quality gate – meeting cost, quality and timing targets – before approval will be given for the actual factory."
According to Unger, the Digital Factory has the potential to shorten production planning cycles by up to 40 percent; enforces quality and "best practices"; and reduces cost, while improving quality to achieve gains in productivity, efficiency and safety.
Another tool developed by the Company's Information Technology Management group is the eEngineering Portal, a Web-based application that provides access to current engineering data across organizational, company and system boundaries 24 hours a day, seven days a week, said Unger. Nearly 4,000 employees worldwide -- in Engineering, Product Planning, Purchasing, After Sales and Service -- currently use the system with plans to roll it out to suppliers in the fourth quarter of 2002. The worldwide user base is expected to grow to 20,000 by 2004.
"The eEngineering Portal is driving collaboration between virtual teams at DaimlerChrysler and enabling global processes," said Unger. "Work can occur in a parallel rather than in a sequential process, which speeds development and brings the Company significant market and cost benefits."
In addition to improving the way manufacturing and engineering does business, the "tool box" is also helping the dealer.
DealerCONNECT is a single point of entry for all Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge dealer-related transactions and will improve the speed and effectiveness of factory-to-dealer communications. More than 150 dealer-facing transactions are being engineered for DealerCONNECT. Because of standards, all the transactions will have the same look and feel, and will be accessible via a Web browser.
"For example, once the 2003 code guides were approved, we were able to distribute them to all dealers within one hour via DealerCONNECT, cutting two weeks off the process with no delays for printing, mailing or distribution," explained Unger.
DealerCONNECT allows the nearly 5,000 Chrysler Group dealers in the U.S., Canada, Mexico and around the world to order vehicles and parts or check inventories and mail from anywhere, at anytime.
"For the Company, DealerCONNECT provides a long-term cost benefit through a centralized, streamlined environment, as well as real-time information sharing," said Unger. "For the dealer, it will simplify his infrastructure, reduce the dealership technology lag and result in a single physical network at the dealership."
[Our note] These technologies are, as far as we know, all outgrowths of existing Chrysler technologies and projects, under way long before the takeover by Mercedes - even though they are now all billed as "DaimlerChrysler" initiatives, sometimes involving the Chrysler Group.
Bonita K. Coleman has been named Director-Chrysler Brand Communications, and will be responsible for directing all marketing communications for Chrysler products. She is leaving her position as COO of Nia Enterprises, a marketing intelligence company she co-founded after leaving Chrysler. She had originally joined the company in 1993, as Chrysler was undergoing a historic cultural change effort which led to record profits and rapid innovation. She rose to the position of Director of Dodge Car Marketing Plans before leaving.
Chrysler has recalled 2001 and 2002 PT Cruisers to install a secondary seal to the top of the fuel pump module. A fuel leak was detected during an inspection following a government crash test. While there are no known incidents or complaints related to this issue, Chrysler is taking this precautionary measure to further reduce the possibility of fuel leakage in a severe collision.
Approximately one-quarter of these vehicles also will be recalled for a separate safety issue involving the underhood fuel supply line. The line may rub against the air conditioning service port, which could result in a fuel leak. While this is unlikely to occur, Chrysler will attach a clip to the fuel line to prevent contact.
Owners will be contacted by mail regarding these recalls. If owners have questions regarding their PT Cruiser they may call the Chrysler Group customer call center at 1-800-853-1403.
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