Dodge Down Under decision due

THE Chrysler Group is actively pursuing the return of the Dodge brand to Australia and the decision to give it the thumbs-up could be as little as two months away.

If Dodge gets the green light from Detroit, it will mean the three Chrysler Group brands - Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge - sold from single showrooms.

The move will also see a radical expansion of the Chrysler Group model line-up in Australia.

But it is unlikely to include any "volume cars". The focus will be on niche models.

The wishlist for the future of Chrysler Down Under was revealed in a satellite interview between Australian journalists and Jim Schroer, executive vice- president of global sales, marketing and service for Chrysler Group.

Mr Schroer said Australia was one of Chrysler's top 10 markets and that major changes to the group's engineering philosophy meant this country would get access to a much wider range of models than was previously possible.

He said Chrysler vehicles were only ever engineered for the US market. If the cars looked promising in overseas markets, they would have to be completely re-engineered for right-hand drive, safety issues or diesel engines.

"Typically it required retrofit which was expensive," he said.

But 18 months ago a new product team at Chrysler decided that while all new models would be American in design language, they would be engineered to be sold worldwide.

This means a tasty array of niche models can be imported here in right-hand drive.

"You will begin to see the fruits of that, not so much this year but from the beginning of the following year and big-time towards 2005," Mr Schroer said.

He said Chrysler needed to do a better job at growing its international business as part of the company's goal to add a million units to its annual sales worldwide.

"So we are putting the bits and pieces and process in place and it takes a while and you need patience," he said. "But we are going to do a better job in Australia." Mr Schroer added that the business case for each of the cars for export was being studied and that process would completed within a few months.

The decision to reintroduce Dodge here would not be made unless it was seen as totally cost-competitive and profitable for both Chrysler and its dealers.

GoAuto understands the matter will be dealt with at a board meeting of the Chrysler Group in March.

Mr Schroer said that if Dodge was to return to Australia it could feature the Viper, the M80 retro ute, the Dodge Ram utility and a rear-drive cross-over like the Dodge Magnum.

A Dodge sports car and Dodge truck "would be mandatory as a base then you can think of some other vehicles on top of that," Mr Schroer said.

"The Dodge RAMs you could argue are custom-designed for Australia," Mr Schroer said.

"On Chrysler, I don't think the mini van business is ever going away. What I see in the world is people who need that utility and there is no more package efficient vehicle - and we can dress that up and make it more elegant.

"Clearly there would be a market in Australia for the Chrysler Crossfire. Beyond that you should wait and see what we are going to do with our rear-wheel drive plans for both Chrysler and Dodge. You will see those unfold within the next year.

"You have already seen one possibility with that with the Dodge Magnum SRT-8. So there is potential there should we bring the Dodge brand in. Clearly the M80 would have market demand but the issue is the business case.

"There is a huge opportunity to expand our Jeep line. You are going to see over time an expansion of the Jeep line from the traditional three - Grand Cherokee, Cherokee and Wrangler. There are going to be a lot more derivatives. It is kind of silly when you think of the Jeep brand to only have three vehicles in that line.

"Assume double." Mr Schroer said he believed that, on a global basis, Jeep was a better brand than Land Rover.

"I have worked on both and I think that when we do our job right we can really give Land Rover a run for their money.

"Frankly, on an international basis over the years Land Rover did a better job than Jeep did outside the US.

"We have our eye on them and that should give you an idea of where we want to go (with Jeep)." For more on how Chrysler Group would sell Dodge alongside its other brands in Australia go to our News story: "It's one showroom for all"