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Chrysler has hired (as a consultant) former manufacturing chief Dennis Pawley to help dealers reduce costs, through his Lean Learning Center training firm.
Hyundai's new factory in the US will, not surprisingly, be built in the South, far from any Chrysler plants - Alabama and Kentucky currently appear to be bidding against each other to see which state can spend more tax dollars on the plant.
Doug Hedrick noted that a Dukes of Hazard computer game is now for sale at http://www.clickcooldeals.com/games.htm - featuring "cars provided by Chrysler Corporation."
Though Chrysler and Mercedes will not be allowed to have any unique engines, Mercedes will continue to design and produce engines solely for use in Mercedes vehicles (including the reskinned Mercedes known as the Crossfire). A completely new range of engines using superchargers, valve control, balance shafts, and (on about one fifth of the engines) direct fuel injection (borrowed from Mitsubishi?) will be used in the C-class, and, later, in the E-class.
After a rather gloomy showing in NASCAR, the Dodge Intrepid driven by Ward Burton took the flag at the Daytona 500. The high-profile victory is not too shabby given that this is Dodge's first year back at NASCAR, an outfit which has changed quite a bit since Dodge and Plymouth dominated in the 1960s and early 1970s. Burton's crew chief is Tommy Baldwin, his pit crew and car owner Bill Davis. The last Dodge to win at Daytona was driven by Richard Petty in 1974, back in the days when they still drove stock cars instead of custom-designed racing cars with shells painted to look like stock.
Dodge has added a new designation to its current, confusing ES and SE (quick, which one is which? and what do they stand for?). The Neon SXT costs $1,000 more than the standard Neon, less than the Neon SE. The Stratus Sedan SXT costs a bit less than the Stratus SE, but the Stratus Coupe SXT costs more than the Stratus Coupe SE. Confused? Wish Chrysler would cust back on the designations from its current base, SE, ES, SXT, R/T, SRT?
With eyes on Nissan, Ford, Honda, and Chrysler, all competitors (now or in the future) in the full size truck market, GM is preparing to launch a new series of truck engines in model year 2004. These "Gen IV" engines are cleaner, more efficient, and more powerful than current versions. GM's displacement-on-demand system will also start to become available to increase gas mileage but using just four cylinders under partial throttle and idle.
Following a slump in revenues from $64 billion to $56.5 billion, Chrysler announced an operating loss of $1.9 billion. (The company's operating profit in 2000 was $499 million, but the 1999 operating profit was considerably higher.) In comparison, Ford's sales dropped 4 percent, resulting in a net loss of $5.5 billion - which has not resulted in the term "ailing" being attached to Ford in every article about the company. At GM, profits have been maintained despite a 4 percent revenue fall, with a $601 million operating profit for 2001. Both Chrysler and Ford are turning to image-boosting cars, with Chrysler producing a variety of fast SRT models, and Ford building the GT40. GM has already countered with a high-end version of the Corvette and the new V-8 powered SSR sports truck. (Figures from Detroit News.)
As we reported some time ago, the Austrian factory which produces a variety of Chrysler and Jeep vehicles for European consumption is being purchased by parts maker Magna Steyr (owned by Canadian parts maker Magna). The agreement includes rights to produce another new DaimlerChrysler model, possibly (our guess) the Pacifica. Magna Steyr is planning to double production.
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