The Chrysler group plans to offer an array of commercial trucks aimed at the market dominated by the automaker's two Detroit rivals,
according to Crain Communications.
The plan envisions the participation of three major units of DaimlerChrysler: Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner and Dodge.
By the second half of the decade, Dodge dealers could be selling two rebadged Mercedes commercial vans, plus two medium-duty Ram pickups. Dodge dealers have clamored for such vehicles.
The creation of a full range of commercial trucks will allow Chrysler to re-enter markets that it has missed since the 1970s. Chrysler has been the only domestic automaker without medium-duty trucks, which include trucks with a gross vehicle weight of 14,001 pounds to 26,000 pounds.
One possible product for Dodge is the Mercedes Vito, a 186-inch long commercial van. Mercedes-Benz will introduce a redesigned Vito in Europe in 2004, and Dodge may get a rebadged version.
"Our game plan is to take any vehicles in the line of Mercedes commercial vans in Europe that are appropriate for sale in the U.S. market," said Jim Schroer, Chrysler's executive vice president of global sales and marketing.
This means not only the Vito, but any other vehicle "that make sense," he said.
The two medium-duty pickups would be Class 4 and Class 5 vehicles that Dodge would share with Freightliner, Schroer said.
Freightliner is DaimlerChrysler's North American heavy-truck operation.
Both Freightliner and Chrysler could use the new medium-duty Ram platform for cab-and-chassis vehicles such as dump trucks, fire trucks and flatbed trucks.
Nationwide, 118,834 medium-duty commercial trucks were sold last year, according to the Automotive News Data Center. GM and Ford sold 69.4% of those vehicles, which have a higher profit margin than traditional pickups and vans.
But new products are in Chrysler's pipeline. This fall, Dodge's 2500 and 3500 Ram pickups have more rugged suspensions, weigh more and can haul or tow bigger payloads than their 1500 model.
The Ram pickups also feature new powertrains -- the 5.7-liter Hemi Magnum V-8 and the Cummins 5.9-liter six-cylinder common-rail turbodiesel -- that are more powerful than the engines they replaced.
Chrysler also might introduce a super-heavy duty truck line -- dubbed 4500 and 5500 -- that would carry heavier payloads and allow the use of customized cabs for fire trucks and other vehicle types.
Eighteen months ago, Chrysler management rejected proposals to produce these vehicles, said Chrysler group CEO Dieter Zetsche.
But now the automaker is reconsidering.
"We looked at the business case on a stand-alone basis, and we didn't understand the commercial business," Zetsche said. "Looking at it as part of a total picture may lead us to a different conclusion."
If Freightliner shares costs with Dodge, DaimlerChrysler might be more likely to approve proposals to build the 4500 and 5500 trucks. Chrysler could work with Freightliner to engineer the big Rams, and Freightliner could use the platform for new models.