Chrysler restructures vehicle development

[United Press International]

AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 7 (UPI) -- Chrysler is
restructuring its new car and truck development into three groups to
cut costs and streamline manufacturing, the Detroit News said.
The U.S. unit of Germany's DaimlerChrysler AG hopes an
improved product design and development process will double the
number of models produced on the same assembly lines.
Instead of focusing on specific brands, the new development
teams will be defined by vehicle architecture: front-wheel drive
combining cars and minivans, rear-wheel drive combining cars, SUVs
and Jeeps and body-on-frame, previously known as the Truck Product
Team. A separate team will work on engineering common components
that can be shared by vehicle lines.
"This reorganization formalizes the evolution of the product
teams," said Eric Ridenour, executive vice president of product
development.
Chrysler hopes to implement changes by 2007 that permit easy
sharing of parts and factory capacity with its Japanese partner,
Mitsubishi.