The first of Chrysler’s next-generation minivans rolled off an assembly line Tuesday as the company celebrated the launch of a product it hopes will help it return it to profitability. Chrysler LLC launched the new 2008 vans, which feature a wider look and a second-row seat that swivels so passengers can sit on two sides of a table, after investing $511 million in the Windsor Assembly Plant.
Vice Chairman and President Tom LaSorda said the new vehicle is a sign of innovation that has been a part of Chrysler’s history. But minivan sales have sputtered a bit in recent years, prompting General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. to exit the market. Through July of this year, 477,662 minivans were sold in the U.S., down 21.9 percent compared with the same period last year.
Some analysts say the market will continue to decline as more car-based crossover vehicles are introduced. But Chrysler, which invented the minivan, sees a healthy demand in the future for the people haulers.
The Windsor plant is building the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan minivans, which are due to hit showrooms in the fall. Because of the investment, the Windsor plant has the flexibility to build the minivans on the same assembly line as the Chrysler Pacifica crossover vehicle, the automaker said. Earlier this month, Daimler Chrysler AG transferred an 80.1 percent stake in Chrysler to New York-based Cerberus Capital Management LP in a $7.4 billion deal. The German automaker, which is to be renamed Daimler AG, retained a 19.9 percent interest in Chrysler.
“These are very important products for The New Chrysler as we remain committed to the minivan market and maintain our leadership position,” Frank Ewasyshyn, Chrysler’s executive vice president for manufacturing, said in a statement. While Chrysler made $1.8 billion in 2005, it lost $618 million in 2006. The losses brought on the sale and forced Chrysler to announce a plan to shed 13,000 hourly and salaried jobs in the U.S. and Canada by 2009.
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