Category: Chrysler

The current 300 saloon will go down in history as the model which brought the company on the saloon market and push competition such as the Ford 500 into the background. However, its replacement might become a serious headache for Chrysler engineers and designers.

The American carmaker has decided to follow the German path that’s to say favoring evolutionary designs. With the next-generation 300, designers will slightly modernize the current overall design a bit like German carmakers did in the previous century. While the car’s exterior will remain similar to that of the current model, the interior styling will be a big improvement over the current 300. company execs are aware of the criticisms targeted at its models’ interior, so designer and engineers have been to told to focus on materials, fit and finish to match Asian models.

The next 300 will be launched in 2011 or 2012. Technical details remains unknown.

Chrysler has announced it will reduce costs by 25 per cent over the next three years by changing the production process and improving the number shared pars between models.

Chrysler executives continue making significant changes to Chrysler. After the will to reduce the number of models, the carmaker has announced it will change its way of working with suppliers. First, it will reduce the number of parts in order to cut cost. It will also extend its production schedule from one week to thirty days allowing suppliers to plan production in a more efficient way than today. In the meantime, the carmaker asks suppliers located in North America to match prices of companies in low-cost countries such as China and India.

Every year, Chrysler is buying for £20 billion of supplies, mainly in the US. The carmaker believes that it will boost its chance of surviving on the global market if it outsources its parts production to poorer countries. However, the decision to move production abroad is always badly felt by consumers. In the meantime, outsourcing in China or India might become a disadvantage to react quickly to the market. By pressuring its American suppliers, Chrysler tries to get the best of the two worlds: cheap prices, while keeping a good brand image.

Chrysler is currently developing a new global platform destined for vehicles competing on the family car market segment.

The American carmaker has a team of 100 engineers working on the future platform which a top priority despite current restructuring. In an interview, Chrysler’s head of engineering for the project, Mark Chernoby, said that the platform was designed to be highly flexible as Chrysler wants to use it to build saloons and crossovers.

With this future platform, Chrysler hopes it will increase its global sales. The carmaker suffers from a low exposure on global markets and is too dependent on US economy. Last year 91% of its sales were realised in the US. What Chrysler needs is a global family car like the Opel/Vauxhall Insignia which will be sold in the US under the Saturn badge. Ford is also developing its own global platform for the next-generatino Mondeo after revealing the global Fiesta this year.

The troubled Chrysler has announced it will meet this year’s target and denies being in talks with Fiat about potential partnership.

In an interview with Automotive News, Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli said that the carmaker will meet the targets defined by its parent company, Cerberus Capital Management, despite a gloomy market. "Through the first quarter we are still on plan relative to the pro forma and the targets we established for 2008, in spite of some of the economic winds that are hitting us," said Nardelli (right on the picture) to Automotive News.

The CEO also denied the talks with Fiat revealed by the German newspaper, Handelsblatt. The newspaper cited the possibility for Chrysler to build Alfa Romeo models in its plants. It seems that the CEO wants to focus on the new partnership signed with Nissan. "What I really am pleased with is the quid pro quo, the ability to purchase and sell and try to balance manufacturing capacity engineering technology between our two companies. Our ability to meet the emerging market demand as quickly as we can would suggest we should look at partnerships, alliances … and that’s what we did,” said Nardelli.