WINDSOR, Ont. (AP) _ The first of Chrysler’s next-generation minivans rolled off an assembly line Tuesday as the company celebrated the launch of a Canadian-made product it hopes will help it return it to profitability.
Chrysler LLC launched the new 2008 vans, which feature a wider look and a second-row seat that swivels so passengers can sit on two sides of a table, after investing US$511 million in the Windsor Assembly Plant.
Vice-chairman and president Tom LaSorda said the new vehicle is a sign of innovation that has been a part of Chrysler’s history.
The new Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country are critical products to Chrysler, and the company refers to them as its “family room on wheels,” he said.
Canadian Auto Workers president Buzz Hargrove said the vehicles will “pay back huge dividends not just for Chrysler, but for … the city of Windsor, the province of Ontario and Canada.”
Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty thanked the workforce, saying the single greatest advantage that he enjoys is the workers, their productivity, work ethic and quality product _ which he said “makes his job easier selling Ontario to the rest of the world.”
But minivan sales have sputtered a bit in recent years, prompting General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. to exit the market. Through July of this year, 477,662 minivans were sold in the U.S., down 21.9 per cent from the same period last year.
Some analysts say the market will continue to decline as more car-based crossover vehicles are introduced. But Chrysler, which invented the minivan, sees a healthy demand in the future for the people haulers.
The Windsor plant is building the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, which are due to hit showrooms in the fall.
Because of the investment, the Windsor plant has the flexibility to build the minivans on the same assembly line as the Chrysler Pacifica crossover vehicle, the automaker said.
Earlier this month, DaimlerChrysler AG transferred an 80.1 per cent stake in Chrysler to New York-based Cerberus Capital Management LP in a $7.4-billion deal. The German automaker, which is to be renamed Daimler AG, retained a 19.9 per cent interest in Chrysler.
“These are very important products for the new Chrysler as we remain committed to the minivan market and maintain our leadership position,” Frank Ewasyshyn, Chrysler’s executive VP for manufacturing, said in a statement.
While Chrysler made $1.8 billion in 2005, it lost $618 million in 2006. The losses brought on the sale and forced Chrysler to announce a plan to shed 13,000 hourly and salaried jobs in the U.S. and Canada by 2009.
autonews24h.com
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