AUBURN HILLS, Mich., Dec. 25 (AP) — The Chrysler division of DaimlerChrysler may add third shifts at most of its assembly plants to meet its goal of selling four million vehicles a year, its chief executive said in an interview.þþThe automaker's North American unit sold 2.9 million Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep vehicles in 2001. It has said it wants to sell four million a year by 2011. þþChrysler is actively considering opening a new assembly plant in Windsor, Ontario, but will not meet the sales goal through a series of new plant openings, said Dieter Zetsche, the president and chief executive of Chrysler. þþÿIn general terms, it is very clear that executing this four million goal is not about adding capacity,ÿ Mr. Zetsche told The Detroit Free Press. þþAdding third shifts to most of its existing assembly and components plants will not translate directly into a 33 percent increase in jobs, he said. þþÿWe intend to improve our productivity to the level of Nissan and Toyota in four or five years,ÿ Mr. Zetsche said. He said the higher productivity will let Chrysler build more vehicles per employee, ÿand at least a portion of the growth we are heading for would compensate for those productivity gains.ÿ þþIn October, Chrysler announced a third shift at its Warren, Mich., truck assembly plant, creating 1,000 new jobs. þþChrysler will decide by the end of June whether to build a new Windsor assembly plant and where to build a new engine plant, Mr. Zetsche said. þþHigher exports will account for more than 200,000 units toward the four million goal, he said. Chrysler now sells about 185,000 vehicles annually outside the United States, Canada and Mexico. Mr. Zetsche said he expected to increase that to around 400,000 by adding new models and improving Chrysler's foreign sales networks. þþChrysler hopes to increase its sales by building new types of vehicles and putting a new emphasis on commercial vehicles, he said.þþChrysler has already chosen two-thirds of the products it needs to reach its four million sales goal, Mr. Zetsche said. He said decisions on the remaining vehicles would come in the next one to two years. þþMost of the sales increase will come from innovative new vehicles like the PT Cruiser and the coming Chrysler Pacifica 6-seat all-wheel-drive crossover, he said. þþÿWe sure hope he's right,ÿ the Canadian Auto Workers Union president, Buzz Hargrove, said of Mr. Zetsche's plan. ÿWe could sure use some good news.ÿ þþDavid L. Littmann, the chief economist at Comerica Bank in Detroit, said the sales goal was well within Chrysler's reach. þþÿMy bet is they can do it in less than five to 10 years,ÿ Mr. Littmann said. ÿThere's no doubt they'll achieve it, maybe in as little as three or four years.ÿ þþþ
Source: NY Times
