Chrysler Plans To Roll Out Front Wheel Drive Hybrids August 2004

DaimlerChryslers Chrysler Group doesnt intend to cede the growing hybrid car market to rivals such as Ford Motor Co. and will offer front-wheel-drive hybrid vehicles in the United States perhaps as early as 2006, group Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche said in an interview.

Zetsches remarks came during a preview in Santa Barbara, Calif., of the 2005 Jeep Grand Cherokee and the new diesel-powered Jeep Liberty sport utility vehicle. Chrysler, based in Auburn Hills, Mich., has been emphasizing diesel vehicles rather than hybrids in the United States to bolster its fuel-efficiency ratings. Hybrids combine gasoline engines and electric motors to improve performance while reducing gas consumption.

Zetsche would not identify the vehicles Chrysler might introduce as hybrids, but the popular PT Cruiser and Dodge and Chrysler minivans have been viewed as likely candidates.

He did say that rather than develop its own hybrid systems from scratch, DaimlerChrysler probably will license the technology from another manufacturer.

Toyota Motor Corp., which developed the first retail hybrid with the 1998 Prius sedan in Japan, has said it will sell its system to all comers and has licensed its hybrid technology to Nissan Motor Co. for a 2005 Altima hybrid sedan. A Toyota spokesman said this month that he wasnt aware of any deal with Chrysler. In addition to Toyota, Honda Motor Co. sells hybrids in the United States, and Ford plans to sell a hybrid version of its Escape SUV this year.

SOURCE: FortWayne.com

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