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DaimlerChrysler AG is poised to add a third shift of up to 900 jobs at its assembly plant in Brampton, Ont., as it tries to capitalize on strong sales of its new mid-sized cars.
The auto maker sent a letter to Canadian Auto Workers union president Buzz Hargrove yesterday urging discussions "as soon as possible" on the possibility of adding a third shift of workers at the plant northwest of Toronto.
"The overwhelming market success of the new LX products [Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum] has prompted the company to investigate alternatives for increasing LX production levels," said the letter, written by M.J. Gendregske, vice-president of human resources for DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc.
"It's great news," Mr. Hargrove said yesterday after reading the letter.
Dieter Zetsche, Chrysler division president and chief executive officer, confirmed that the company and union will soon sit down to discuss adding a shift to take advantage of the "fortunate situation" of demand for the 300 and Magnum exceeding supply.
"That's a nice problem to have," Mr. Zetsche told reporters after a speech to corporate and political leaders at the annual Spruce Meadows roundtable in Calgary.
"We certainly have to discuss the boundary conditions of a potential third shift with Buzz and his colleagues. And we'll do that in the near future and come to a conclusion," he said. Mr. Zetsche would not say what issues would be addressed in the talks, but noted that the central question is the sustainability of the demand for the 300 and Magnum.
The options to boost output are to add the third shift or increase production at another plant where there is excess capacity, the company said.
But it would make much more sense to add the shift in Brampton because costs will be lower and that would take much less time than gearing up another assembly plant, such as Newark, Del., said Michael Robinet, vice-president of forecast services for automotive consulting firm CSM Worldwide Inc. in Northville, Mich.
In one sense, increasing production in Brampton simply means restoring the status quo, because the third shift was eliminated during the restructuring engineered by Mr. Zetsche in 2001 when he was parachuted in from Germany to rescue the floundering Chrysler division.
Part of that restructuring plan was a major gamble -- an investment of more than $1-billion (U.S.) to switch the company's flagship cars to rear-wheel drive.
The move has so far paid off, with the 300, 300C and Magnum helping to boost sales in the first nine months of 2004 to 1.503 million vehicles in the U.S. market -- the destination for more than 80 per cent of the cars assembled in Brampton -- from 1.474 million a year earlier.
That increase has helped push market share to 13.2 per cent from 13 per cent a year earlier. That may not sound like a large increase, but in the fiercely competitive U.S. market gains of 0.2 percentage points are major victories.
The cars are well engineered, priced competitively and offer a choice of three engines, soon to be four, Mr. Robinet said.
"It's really raised the bar for other manufacturers right now," he said.
The letter to Mr. Hargrove said government support for training and technology will also be required if a third shift is to go ahead.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
DaimlerChrysler AG is poised to add a third shift of up to 900 jobs at its assembly plant in Brampton, Ont., as it tries to capitalize on strong sales of its new mid-sized cars.
The auto maker sent a letter to Canadian Auto Workers union president Buzz Hargrove yesterday urging discussions "as soon as possible" on the possibility of adding a third shift of workers at the plant northwest of Toronto.
"The overwhelming market success of the new LX products [Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum] has prompted the company to investigate alternatives for increasing LX production levels," said the letter, written by M.J. Gendregske, vice-president of human resources for DaimlerChrysler Canada Inc.
"It's great news," Mr. Hargrove said yesterday after reading the letter.
Dieter Zetsche, Chrysler division president and chief executive officer, confirmed that the company and union will soon sit down to discuss adding a shift to take advantage of the "fortunate situation" of demand for the 300 and Magnum exceeding supply.
"That's a nice problem to have," Mr. Zetsche told reporters after a speech to corporate and political leaders at the annual Spruce Meadows roundtable in Calgary.
"We certainly have to discuss the boundary conditions of a potential third shift with Buzz and his colleagues. And we'll do that in the near future and come to a conclusion," he said. Mr. Zetsche would not say what issues would be addressed in the talks, but noted that the central question is the sustainability of the demand for the 300 and Magnum.
The options to boost output are to add the third shift or increase production at another plant where there is excess capacity, the company said.
But it would make much more sense to add the shift in Brampton because costs will be lower and that would take much less time than gearing up another assembly plant, such as Newark, Del., said Michael Robinet, vice-president of forecast services for automotive consulting firm CSM Worldwide Inc. in Northville, Mich.
In one sense, increasing production in Brampton simply means restoring the status quo, because the third shift was eliminated during the restructuring engineered by Mr. Zetsche in 2001 when he was parachuted in from Germany to rescue the floundering Chrysler division.
Part of that restructuring plan was a major gamble -- an investment of more than $1-billion (U.S.) to switch the company's flagship cars to rear-wheel drive.
The move has so far paid off, with the 300, 300C and Magnum helping to boost sales in the first nine months of 2004 to 1.503 million vehicles in the U.S. market -- the destination for more than 80 per cent of the cars assembled in Brampton -- from 1.474 million a year earlier.
That increase has helped push market share to 13.2 per cent from 13 per cent a year earlier. That may not sound like a large increase, but in the fiercely competitive U.S. market gains of 0.2 percentage points are major victories.
The cars are well engineered, priced competitively and offer a choice of three engines, soon to be four, Mr. Robinet said.
"It's really raised the bar for other manufacturers right now," he said.
The letter to Mr. Hargrove said government support for training and technology will also be required if a third shift is to go ahead.更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net