Chrysler hits stride in St. Louis ramp up

Chrysler Corp. isn't letting the Kerkorian distraction upset its normal operations. Last month it hit full production at its St. Louis South Assembly Plant, one of three plants that will produce its new generation of minivans. The plant is now turning out 1,150, long-wheelbase Chrysler Town and Country and Dodge Caravan minivans per day. This month St. Louis will begin producing short-wheelbase versions of the vans, while Chrysler's Windsor, Ontario, assembly plant starts cranking out three-door versions of the lower-end Plymouth Voyager. All van models can be ordered with a left-side sliding door. Officials want Windsor to begin producing vans with the quality level already reached at St. Louis. When workers in Canada ramp up, Chrysler execs say both plants will produce every version of all three vans depending on the ying and yang of the market. Production of Europe's model, the Chrysler Voyager begins this fall at Graz, Austria. At peak stride, Chrysler worldwide expects to produce 720,000 minivans annually.