Production Shuffle

DaimlerChrysler AG is in the midst of a production shift involving three product lines on two continents as a result of the sale of the Eurostar assembly plant in Graz, Austria to Magna International Inc.

Production of the Chrysler Group's PT Cruiser and Chrysler Voyager minivan ended July 12 at Magna's Eurostar assembly plant, with Mercedes-Benz M-Class production to move shortly after.

Magna needs Eurostar capacity to build the BMW X-3 cross/utility vehicle at an annual volume of up to 100,000 units, with production scheduled to begin in September. The company was finalizing its deal to buy Eurostar from DaimlerChrysler AG in July.

DC is switching total production of the PT Cruiser to its lead plant in Toluca, Mexico.

Ginny Fischbach, Chrysler Group senior manager, vehicle synthesis-Small Vehicles Product Team, says by the end of the summer, the full PT lineup will be assembled in Toluca where the line speed has been bumped up to 60 jobs an hour. It is the second increase this year — the first was in January.

Toluca assembled pilots of all the models coming from Graz in preparation for the July startup. The extra models will be phased in, recognizing the need to keep the European market satisfied. “We don't want to be caught short in Europe because of shipping time back to Europe,” says Fischbach.

As a result, Toluca planned to start with the diesel-powered PT (for export to Europe), followed by the 2L and, by summer's end, the 1.6L, also slated for European sales only.

At the same time, Toluca was running pilots of the new PT Turbo, which is now being produced exclusively for the North American market. Early models are coupled to automatic transmissions. Manuals will follow in October with a take rate of 20% to 25% expected, says Fischbach.

The Chrysler Group expects sales of 35,000 PT Turbos in its first year, about 17% of the 210,000 total PTs to be produced, says Fischbach.

Meanwhile, DC also is preparing to move production of the Chrysler Voyager minivan from the Eurostar plant to Magna Steyr Group's adjacent assembly plant. Startup is scheduled for the end of August. The current contract calls for 40,000 units to be produced there annually.

The Jeep Grand Cherokee and the M-Class currently are built at the Magna plant. M-Class production will stop a week after minivan production starts, marking the end of its European production.

Going forward, all M-Class vehicles will be produced at Mercedes' U.S. assembly plant in Vance, AL.