Company plans to increase production to 220,000 a year by 2014, president says at Detroit presentation
Chrysler Group LLC's sales in Canada will grow to 220,000 vehicles a year by 2014, Reid Bigland, president of the company's Canadian branch, said on Wednesday.
That's up about 33 per cent from the estimated 166,000 this year, Mr. Bigland said, but less than the 233,000 the company sold in Canada in 2007.
“I think those forecasts are on the conservative side," he said during his portion of Chrysler's presentation of its plans in Detroit.
Earlier in the day, Chrysler said it will introduce a new mid-size car, a subcompact hatchback and a full-sized sedan for its Dodge brand in the 2012-13 time frame.
It will also upgrade its Dodge Caravan minivan with a new engine and suspension, new interior in the fourth quarter of 2010 and introduce new, fuel efficient engines starting next year.
The plans will likely result in an undetermined investment for Chrysler's Windsor, Ont., assembly plant.
Sergio Marchionne, chief executive officer of both Fiat SpA and Chrysler, is unveiling the plan as U.S. vehicle sales begin what is expected to be a slow climb out the industry's most damaging slump since the Great Depression.
Chrysler has $5.7-billion (U.S.) in cash, up from $4-billion in June, and eked out positive earnings before interest depreciation and amortization of $200-million in the third quarter, Mr. Marchionne said.
“The new Chrysler is being incredibly parsimonious," he said.
In the short and medium term, the internal combustion engine will continue to dominate, said Paolo Ferrero, senior vice-president of powertrain for Chrysler.
Hybrids and battery-powered vehicles will be introduced over the longer term, as costs to develop those systems fall. In 2011, Chrysler will roll out a test fleet of plug-in hybrid minivans and pickup trucks, Mr. Ferrero said.
By 2014, a combination of Fiat and Chrysler technology will increase the use of four -cylinder engines in Chrysler vehicles to 38 per cent, compared with just 19 per cent in 2010.
Six and eight-cylinder engines will make up 48 per cent of the fleet by 2014, compared with 72 per cent in 2010.
“There is no business as usual at Chrysler," the auto maker's chairman, Robert Kidder, said. Mr. Marchionne plans to make Chrysler a public company again, Mr. Kidder said, although he did not say when an initial public offering would be made.
The announcement comes as recovery has eluded Chrysler so far. On Tuesday, it reported a 30 per cent tumble in U.S. sales in October, compared with a 4 per cent rise for rival General Motors Co. in a flat market overall.
The Chrysler sales drop sent its market share in the United States to just 7.9 per cent.
Its vehicles in such crucial market segments as compact cars, mid-size cars and crossover utility vehicles are also-rans.
Coming up with successful and profitable products in those segments is critical to Chrysler's future, analysts and Chrysler dealers throughout North America say.
Both it and GM were forced into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the spring and were given life-saving bailouts by the U.S., Canadian and Ontario governments.
Washington gave Chrysler $12.5-billion in loans, while Ottawa and Ontario kicked in $3.8-billion (Canadian).
A report by the U.S. government's Government Accountability Office issued earlier this week said Washington is unlikely to recover its investment in either Chrysler or GM.
As the Fiat and Chrysler executives made their presentation, a small plane circled the Chrysler campus in Auburn Hills, Mich., towing a banner reading “Fiat/Chrysler bailout bandit."
In the audience Wednesday at the Chrysler design dome were Magna International Inc. co-CEO Don Walker and other supplier representatives. Canadian Auto Workers president Ken Lewenza was also sitting in on the presentation.
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