The company has committed to building at least two unibody models at the plant, he said, calling them 'the next generation of SUVs that are much more fuel-efficient.' He said the company might need to add an additional shift to Jefferson North or offer overtime to handle the increased volume.

 

Jefferson North has one shift and is producing 120,000 vehicles annually. In May, Chrysler won a 12-year tax abatement from the Detroit City Council for a $373 million project to retool Jefferson North Assembly Plant on the city's east side. LaSorda didn't disclose precisely how that money will be spent.

The $1.8 billion is for the new product development, retooling and supplying.

The new line of vehicles includes many common components designed with Mercedes-Benz.

LaSorda also said the company hopes to strike more alliances with other companies by year's end and he said Chrysler has had discussions with companies in Russia, China and India. He also said engineering problems had delayed the company's sale of a Chinese-built vehicle in central and South America.

LaSorda said Cerberus Capital Management LP, which purchased 80.1 percent of Chrysler from Daimler AG just over a year ago, had no plans to sell Chrysler.

'We'll be there and we're going to be there long-term. We're going to rebound. It's just a question of time,' LaSorda said. 'Bottom line is they are holding on for the long-term and we'll see what happens.'

LaSorda also predicted more global collaboration in the automotive industry and encouraged companies to consider alliances.

'In the next five to 10 years, I see more consolidation in every region of the world, among OEMs and especially among suppliers,' he said. 'Partner early and partner often, because more strategic alliances and joint ventures are on the way.'

Chrysler has announced plans to work with Nissan, with the Japanese company providing Chrysler with two small cars -- including a version of its Versa to be sold in South America and another small car to be built by Nissan in Japan and sold by Chrysler worldwide. Chrysler is providing Nissan with a small pickup.

Chrysler plans to start selling the Nissan-built small car in late 2010. 'We've pretty much finalized the design of the product,' LaSorda said.

Chrysler co-vice chairman and president Jim Press, chairman and CEO Robert Nardelli and LaSorda will go to Japan in September 'to look at the final property and release it to production.'

Chrysler designers did the styling of the Nissan-built vehicle. LaSorda said they have picked out a name but declined to share it.

He said Chrysler and Nissan had no plans to expand their current partnership -- specifically denying a report that they would collaborate on a midsized car. 'We said we'd keep open dialogue but I think we're busy right now,' he said.

LaSorda said the automaker has had 'discussions with multiple companies in Russia. Hopefully we'll see some light at the end of the tunnel here by the end of the year on what might result from those discussions.'

He also confirmed that Fiat had approached Chrysler about using excess capacity. 'At this stage there is no formal discussions going on, but there was an inquiry.'

Chrysler is building a minivan for Volkswagen that will be marketed as the 2009 VW Routan.

The retooled plant will feature several environmental advances, from state-of-the-art lighting and energy management to using solid waste and paint sludge as a source of energy, LaSorda said.

It will allow for flexible manufacturing of different products at the plant depending on consumer wants. 'It allows us to do different products including much smaller products as well as bigger,' he said.

LaSorda said he was happy that Ford Motor Co. had delayed the sale of its redesigned F-150 while it cleared out 2008 models -- which allows Chrysler to unveil its redesigned Dodge Ram before Ford's new product goes on sale and gives Chrysler 'an opening.'

'We like the fact that Ford delayed,' LaSorda said.