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The ten-year integration plan noted in the previous story (appearing just below this one) is being coordinated by the DCX executive automotive committee, created last year but headed (and presumably controlled) by Schrempp. Executives have been asked to propose ways to integrate parts distribution, dealer services, logistics, and salary payments among Mercedes, Chrysler, and Mitsubishi. Parts distribution was one proposed benefit of the takeover, before it actually occured, with analysts being told that using Mercedes' dealer services and parts distribution network would help Chrysler to extend its overseas sales (instead, Chrysler's overseas sales have slumped, without access to the Mercedes network). Again, the sharing of engines, transmissions, and other large components across the group has already begun, including even Hyundai and Kia, of which DCX only owns a small share.
Announcing the plan at this juncture may be intended to stave off stock sales - Deutsche Bank has already announced it would sell its DCX stock (it owns over ten percent of the conglomerate), and DCX may be trying to delay that sale along with stock dumping by other large shareholders. In addition, consolidation of services may be a way to either justify keeping Chrysler assets in case of a sale, or to justify keeping Chrysler itself as many stockholders, in both Germany and the US, pressure the company to split Chrysler off again.
According to the Financial Times, Juergen Schrempp plans to combine the transmission and engine design departments of all DCX subsidiaries to save money, saying " Why not combine parts departments, workshops and things like that where you can get fantastic scale effects without affecting the brand?'' He is setting up a ten year plan which would merge common functions, such as salary payments, across Mercedes and Chrysler. We do not yet have details on whether the transmission and engine consolidations would be across Mercedes and Chrysler and/or the truck divisions, but Chrysler, Mitsubishi, Hyundai, and Kia are already set to share engines and transmissions.
Chrysler announced today a sweeping re-design of its volume production planning process. The new web-based system, called "Integrated Volume Planning" or IVP, will use information from field offices much earlier in production planning. Wolfgang Bernhard, COO, said, "More accurate production plans should lead to lower costs and reduced inventory not only for the Chrysler Group, but throughout the supply base, as well."
In the current planning system, plant production capacity, fleet production orders and sales forecast estimates are sequentially analyzed to determine plant production. Under the new IVP system, Chrysler Group will unite all planning steps into a network, creating a production schedule that better reflects expected market demand.
"More favorable production schedules can now be developed by matching supplier material release forecasts with actual dealer orders, and then determining capacity within the supply chain," said David Hodgson, Vice President of Worldwide Supply, Chrysler Group. "The improved accuracy and timing with this new web-based infrastructure will significantly reduce order-to-delivery times, inventory banks and buffers, and tooling costs in the supply chain."
IBM is the system integrator for the project. Chrysler launched the first pilot for IVP this month and expects to have full implementation by mid-2003.
A current rebate ad notes that "all DaimlerChrysler (emphasizing the "Daimler" part) lessees are eligible..." later noting that Mercedes owners are not eligible. /query/ Since the only auto companies owned outright by DaimlerChrysler are Mercedes and Chrysler, some may wonder why the ad did not simply say "all Chrysler Group lessees." /query off/
The United States Internal Revenue Service has decided that people who buy gas-electric hybrid vehicles can take a $2,000 tax deduction, good news not just for Toyota and Honda (whose Prius, Insight, and Civic hybrids are the first on American shores), but also for the Big Three's upcoming hybrid trucks. Toyota sold 15,556 Prius family cars last year (the Prius was the first standard-production hybrid in the world), while Honda is adding a hybrid powertrain to its Civic. While Ford has garnered press awareness with its Escape SUV hybrid, due in 2004, both Chevrolet and Dodge will also have hybrid trucks in 2004 if current plans hold.
Customers have to move sort of quickly to claim the full credit, which is due to decline from $2,000 to $1,500 in 2004, then to be phased to nothing (falling $500 per year) in 2007.
According to Chrysler's Max Gates, the Dodge Ram hybrid (currently known to fans as the Contractor, after the show truck) is on track to be sold in 2004. According to past Dodge releases, the Ram hybrid has two unique features: a simpler Through-The-Ground system for synchronizing gas and electric motors, and on-board generator capability which eliminates the need for contractors to haul around a heavy generator. It also reduces emissions by using its more efficient and less polluting engine rather than the generator's less-regulated engine. The Ram hybrid will, according to past releases, be faster than its gasoline-engined equivalent while substantially increasing gas mileage.
(by David Harris)
Cool weather conditions contributed to making this weekend’s Pro Stock field the quickest in NHRA history with a 6.815-second elapsed time bump spot. Larry Morgan had the previous anchor of 6.831 seconds, set at Maple Grove Raceway last season just outside Reading, Pa.
Dean Skuza ran his three best qualifying passes of the season and landed the fourth-qualifying slot for today's event. Skuza logged a 4.849-second elapsed time at 310.91 mph, which is the quickest pass for the new Dodge Stratus R/T.
Gene Wilson made his first sub 6.80-second elapsed time in NHRA Pro Stock competition. The Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T driver clicked off a career-best 6.799-second elapsed time at a career-best 202.91 mph. The run was good enough for the 11th qualifying position for the quickest field in NHRA Pro Stock history.
“This car is just flying right now,” Wilson said. “The track was a little loose, but the car felt great and I knew I was on a pass. I can’t say enough for this whole Mopar team and the Hemi Dodge Neon R/T. We’ll see what we have for them tomorrow.”
Larry Morgan also drove to career bests. Morgan, who pilots the blue Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T, logged a career-best 6.800-second lap at a top speed of 202.76 mph. Morgan earned the 12th-starting slot and will face off against fellow Dodge Neon R/T competitor and Atlanta Dragway national event winner Allen Johnson.
Darrell Alderman missed the show for the first time this season. The three-time POWERade Pro Stock World Champion and pilot of the other Mopar Parts Dodge Neon R/T failed to make the field with a 6.860-second lap at 202.48 mph. “I can’t describe how disappointed I am,” said Alderman, who sat third in the Pro Stock points chase prior to this weekend. “We had some clutch troubles this weekend and it bit us. The car just wasn’t good off the starting line.”
Chrysler just released the following info about the SRT-4's creation and production.
Twenty-six-year-old Marques McCammon came to work at Chrysler for one reason and one reason only. And this December, it begins rolling off an Illinois assembly line as the quickest production car available in the United States for less than $20,000. "The Dodge SRT-4 - plain and simple. That's why I chose to work here," says Marques McCammon, Program Manager-Small Vehicle Product Team. "My dream was to make a car like that a reality."
McCammon got his driver's license at about the same time the sport compact car craze was just beginning to hit his hometown on the East Coast. "I took a turn at the starting line at many a stoplight myself throughout high school and college, mostly in import cars I tuned in my garage," admits McCammon. "But I always dreamed of doing a performance version of a production car for a major automaker."
In 1998, with a Mechanical Engineering degree from North Carolina A&T University in hand, McCammon got his chance. A recruitment call from DaimlerChrysler brought him to the company's Technology Center in Auburn Hills, Michigan. There, as one of his first assignments, he was asked to help develop a version of the Neon with a list of performance features based on the sport compact cars that Tom Gale, (then Executive Vice President-Product Development and Design) had seen at the 1998 Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association (SEMA) Show in Las Vegas.
Within weeks, a pack of young tuners began to form around Gale's request. Along with McCammon, the initial team included 35-year-old powertrain engineer Marc Musial and 36-year-old mechanic Dave Chyz, one of the youngest technicians to work on the original Dodge Viper. In addition to youth, the team members also shared first-hand experience in one form or another with the existing Dodge Neon.
"Mark brought his experience with turbos and superchargers," recalls McCammon. "And Dave threw in his engine expertise, and before you knew it, we had built a car from scratch in just four months."
Often, that meant putting in long hours after they officially punched out from their "day jobs." Between the three of them, the group logged more than 1,000 test track miles after hours in less than two weeks. By November 1999, Gale had his car, and it had a spot on that year's SEMA show floor. Based on the positive response there, Gale decided to put the black vehicle, (then badged the Neon SRT), center stage on the concept car turntable at the Los Angeles Auto Show the following January.
"When we heard Gale say, 'We need to make a production version in a brighter color,' we thought we were home-free," recounts McCammon.
But taking a concept car to the level of a production vehicle proved a test of the young team's mettle. Finding an approved engine, financing tooling, and keeping the price low enough to appeal to tuners like themselves presented new challenges to the neophyte group. At the same time, they also were secretly piecing together a second car using production-oriented parts and a design more adaptable to the existing Neon platform, all in the hopes of winning production approval for their dream car.
"Once we had the second car built, we snuck it into Tom Gale's parking spot in the executive garage one night, just to get it noticed," says McCammon. "We figured he couldn't possibly ignore his own ride home."
Despite the effort, the Executive Committee rejected the production car proposal when the team appeared before it in the fall of 2000. So, for the second time, McCammon got another list - this one full of reasons why the car wouldn't fly. But even that didn't deter the team.
"We literally went to every lead engineer, item by item, and asked them to explain why the item couldn't be done or offer a solution to fix it," says McCammon. "We just kept going until there was nothing left on the list."
Three revisions of the car later, responsibility for the still unapproved project was transferred to the company's Specialty Vehicle Engineering (SVE) team, or as it would come to be known, Performance Vehicle Operations (PVO). In the spring of 2001, the plan once again was placed before the Executive Committee, and this time, it got the green light.
As an approved project, responsibility for the newly christened Dodge SRT-4 production car fell in the race-steady hands of John Fernandez, Director of Performance Vehicle Operations. With many years spent in Neon ACR grassroots racing himself, Fernandez turned to the next generation of motorheads to create his SRT-4 crew. "We pulled together everyone we knew who had first-hand experience with vehicles like the SRT-4, either through grassroots racing or hitting the streets every weekend in their own performance-tuned cars."
The result was a second group of young tuners ready to continue the initial team's work. Some of them, like 30-year old Stephan Zweidler and 39-year old Brad Dotson, had worked indirectly on the Neon SRT concept car and were more than happy to ante up to the project full-time on the PVO team. Time spent racing with Team Shelby and the Neon ACR in SCCA , including a stint as crew chief, more than earned Dotson his spot on the SRT-4 team as Program Manager. Zweidler, who raced Solo II SCCA autocross throughout college and remains active in the Neon Enthusiast Club, shares testing and development responsibility with another young SRT-4 crew member 32-year old Vehicle Synthesis Engineer Jeff Reece who worked on the championship-winning Dodge Viper GTS-R. Twenty-eight-year old Engine Engineer Tom Wierzchon (also on the Viper GTS-R team) and 32-year-old Electrical Systems Engineer Judy Willoughby round out the core of the current PVO SRT-4 team.
"As a small group working under a compressed timeline, we've had to focus on the bare essentials, timing-wise," adds Dotson. "That wouldn't have been possible without the cooperation of other departments throughout the company. It's amazing to see other racing enthusiasts come out of the woodwork to lend their support for this program," he says.
All the hard work pays off and the teams' dreams becomes reality this December as the first Dodge SRT-4 cars begin racing off the line at the company's Belvidere (Ill.) Assembly Plant. As expected, some of the first customers will likely be the young tuners who helped make it all happen.
"I can't imagine what it will be like the first time I pull up to a stoplight in my new Dodge SRT-4," adds McCammon. "I only know that it'll be every man for himself, and this man will be behind the wheel of his dream."
The 2003 Dodge SRT-4 combines performance with features inspired by the street racing scene. With a sticker price of just $19,995, the Dodge SRT-4 will be the quickest production car available in the United States for less than $20,000 when it arrives in dealerships in early 2003.
The car's 2.4-liter, turbocharged in-line four-cylinder engine produces 215 horsepower and 245 lb.-ft. of torque. Paired with that powerplant are a heavy-duty, five-speed manual NVG T850 transaxle and a dual-outlet exhaust system with big, 2.5-inch polished stainless tips. New equal-length halfshafts, high-capacity clutch and drive plate assemblies and unique engine and transaxle mounts round out the Dodge SRT-4 powertrain.
The Durango hybrid has been canned, despite the promise of V8 power with better-than-V6 gas mileage, due to Chrysler's expectations that customers won't go for the higher cost, lower towing capacity, and reduction in storage space (albeit with faster acceleration). No word yet on the implications for the proposed Ram hybrids. Ford and GM are both planning to introduce hybrid-electric trucks, and it appears they will beat Chrysler to market by at least one year, possibly more.
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