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Industry Editor, Moderator, All-around Car Nut and the official my.IS Grandpa
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
Chrysler has, indeed, officially signed a pact to build a sub-Caliber, B-segment car in China, and Chery will build it for Chrysler. (at the same time, Chery wisely cancelled its contract with Malcolm Bricklin to sell their cars in North America).
An interview Chrysler's media-only Firehouse blog recently had with Chrysler Group President and CEO Tom LaSorda, however, contains this telling exchange:
Q – Will this car mean the death of the Hornet, the muscular small car concept that we saw at the Geneva auto show this year? Tom – "The Hornet is a great statement of our design. It is also a statement that it's something that we're going to continue to take a look at, and depending on the business case going, we'll look at that independently from this particular project."
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Industry Editor, Moderator, All-around Car Nut and the official my.IS Grandpa
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
Yup, that's the conclusion most people are coming to...
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
Here's the latest from Automotive News via AutoWeek:
Preparing for Production Hornet could be first Chinese Chrysler offered in U.S.
By ALYSHA WEBB
SHANGHAI -- The Dodge Hornet is the front-runner to be the first car assembled by Chery Automobile Co. for Chrysler group dealerships in the United States, say supplier sources and sources at Chery.
A production version of the Hornet concept "is fixed, but no final contract has been signed," says an executive at a European company supplying Chery.
Chrysler has not revealed the brand of the Chery-made car or when it will go on sale in the United States.
In addition, Chery will design and assemble for Chrysler a small car for export to markets such as South America, Mexico and possibly Europe, the sources say.
The model, called the S12 at Chery, resembles the QQ model sold by Chery in China. It is about the size of a Mini.
The model will first go on sale this year in China, Chery managers say.
Originally, Chery and Chrysler had planned to begin producing a version of the S12 car for export in 2008. But the potential sale of the Chrysler group has thrown off that timeline, sources say.
Says the executive at the European supplier: "I think Chery is waiting to see what happens with Chrysler."
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Industry Editor, Moderator, All-around Car Nut and the official my.IS Grandpa
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
By now, it's old news that Chrysler will team up with Chinese car maker Chery to build a sub-Caliber (pun probably intended) small car that may or may not have Dodge Hornet styling cues, but this thread has another subject: the rumor mill regarding the Tritec engine that Chrysler (pre-Daimler hookup) and BMW jointly build in a Brazilian plant and that may yet power the Chinese Dodge Hornet. Here's the latest:
BMW Out of Tritec Engine JV
By Ward’s Staff From Wires
BMW AG has sold its 50% holding in Tritec Motors Ltda. to partner DaimlerChrysler AG’s Chrysler Group, ending a 7-year relationship with the Brazil-based engine joint venture.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
It is unclear whether Chrysler will continue to hold on to Tritec or look to sell the operation’s 4-cyl. engine tooling. Russia’s OAO AvtoVAZ and OAO GAZ and China’s Chongqing Lifan Industrial (Group) Co. Ltd. all have expressed interest in acquiring the equipment to build Tritec’s 1.4L and 1.6L 4-cyl. engines. Lifan already buys Tritec engines for use in its 520 car.
While the Chinese would be expected to move the tooling to China, the Russian auto makers have proposed purchasing Tritec together and keeping the operation in Brazil.
Tritec’s biggest third-party customer is China’s Chery Automobile Co. Ltd., which imports the Brazilian-built 1.6L for installation in its A15 and Fengyun models.
Tritec opened in 1999 as a JV between BMW and Chrysler Corp., with the mandate to supply engines for the Dodge Neon small car and BMW’s Mini model. But soon after, Chrysler was acquired by BMW rival Daimler-Benz AG and the small-engine partnership immediately went sour.
BMW has publicly complained about the performance of the Tritec engines and did not renew its supply contract when it expired in January. The German auto maker recently launched a new 1.6L for its revamped Mini coupe that went on sale in the U.S. in February. That engine is being produced in a JV with PSA Peugeot Citroen.
At the media launch for the new Mini, Erich Sonntag, BMW product manager-Mini engine family, told Ward’s the Tritec’s Pentagon 4-cyl. proved inadequate and said BMW would have had difficulty meeting upcoming emissions regulations in Europe and the U.S. with the existing engine.
“It was a very old-fashioned engine, cast iron and only one camshaft but four valves per cylinder, so there is no flexibility on valvetrain,” Sonntag told Ward’s. “This engine was just a very cheap engine, but also not very effective on function, performance and fuel (efficiency).”
The Mini convertible, which remains on the car’s original platform, continues to use the Tritec engines.
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"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
Earlier reports of a China vs Russia fight for the Tritec engine now have an added twist: General Motors may want the Brazilian plant itself, seemingly without the engine line, but that remains unclear. Here's the story:
GM considers buying Tritec
Source: just-auto.com editorial team
Brazil's Tritec motors is currently evaluating a proposal to be acquired by General Motors.
According to AutoData, government authorities from the state of Paraná recently met with GM representatives to negotiate resuming production at the plant, which has been shut down for more than six months.
GM is reportedly evaluating a number of options for future expansion in Brazil - using the Tritec facilities is just one of them.
Last year Fiat expressed some interest in acquiring Tritec but, according to AutoData, they lost interest when Tritec apparently began considering an auction to sell the plant.
Tritec ceased production in July 2007 but still has 114 employees.
The plant was set up as a joint venture between Chrysler and BMW to produce small engines. BMW ceased sourcing engines from the plant for the Mini last year and switched to engines developed jointly with PSA.
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Industry Editor, Moderator, All-around Car Nut and the official my.IS Grandpa
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
All the old rumo(u)rs about Russia's AutoVaz (now owned by Nissan/Renault), China's Lifan and General Motors buying the former BMW/Chrysler Tritec plant in Brazil have turned out to be wrong. Fiat, briefly mentioned in the above post/story on GM, has just announced that it's buying the Tritec plant. This is certainly a welcome financial shot in the arm for shaky Chrysler. Here's the story:
Fiat buys Chrysler powertrain plant in Brazil
by Ryan Beene - Automotive News
DETROIT -- Chrysler LLC said today it sold its Brazil-based engine plant, Tritec Motors Ltda., to Fiat Powertrain Technologies.
Fiat's purchased 314-acres of real estate, production lines, manufacturing unit and licenses to produce the plant's current range of 1.4- and 1.6-liter four-cylinder engines.
Fiat said the plant would produce a new range of mid-size gasoline and flex-fuel engines, according to a Reuters report.
"Today's announcement is great news and provides a stable future for Tritec under the ownership of Fiat Powertrain Technologies," Chrysler Vice Chairman Tom LaSorda said in a prepared statement.
The deal was valued at about $127.5 million, according to a Reuters report. Chrysler spokeswoman Mary Beth Halprin declined to confirm the sale price, saying Chrysler does not typically disclose financial details as a private company.
The plant was built in 1999 through a 50-50 joint-venture between then-DaimlerChrysler and BMW AG, established in 1996. The engines were supplied to the BMW-made Mini from the car's initial introduction until the engine was replaced in the 2007 model year by an engine developed by BMW and PSA/Peugeot-Citroen.
Tritec engines were also used in the Chrysler PT Cruiser sold in South Africa and Europe and Neon models sold outside North America.
Chrysler assumed outright ownership of the project when it bought BMW's 50 percent share of the joint-venture in July 2007. By that point, press reports indicated that Lifan, a low-volume Chinese automaker, and Russia's AvtoVAZ were eyeing the plant for purchase.
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Industry Editor, Moderator, All-around Car Nut and the official my.IS Grandpa
"People demand freedom of speech as a compensation for the freedom of thought which they seldom use."—Soren Kierkegaard
Last edited by jruhi4 : 03-12-2008 at 02:14 PM.
Reason: Newer, updated story
By the time Dodge gets it into production if so, it will look worse than it dose now! I bet the interior plastics will be made from 99c cups from walmart!
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