- Equally owned joint venture company to be established
- New family of benchmark in-line four cylinder gasoline engines
- Unprecedented high level of cooperation
Seoul/Stuttgart/Tokyo - DaimlerChrysler AG, Hyundai Motor Company, and
Mitsubishi Motors Corporation announced today the formation of a joint
venture company for the design, development, and engineering of a new
family of in-line four cylinder gasoline engines. Global Engine Alliance
L.L.C. will jointly develop these engines through the combined resources
of all three companies. The engines will be used in future generations
of vehicles of the Chrysler Group, Mitsubishi Motors, and Hyundai Motor.
In making the joint announcement, each company acknowledged the uniqueness
of the project. The project is a milestone in the history of all three
companies and proof of the wide range of possibilities of cooperation
among the partners. The joint venture demonstrates an unprecedented high
level of cooperation among the companies involved.
Chrysler Group President and CEO Dieter Zetsche said: "For Chrysler
Group, this project represents tangible fruits of the alliance with Mitsubishi
and Hyundai. Leveraging our company's global scale is a critical element
in the Chrysler Group growth strategy; a venture like this could well
lead to even greater cooperation." Hyundai President Kim Dong-Jin expressed
his satisfaction by stressing that Hyundai "looks forward to this opportunity
to create a strong working relationship with our partners in continuing
advances in this engine technology." Mitsubishi Motors President and CEO
Takashi Sonobe emphasized that "this joint venture is further proof for
the ongoing progress of our successful alliance with DaimlerChrysler."
The new joint venture company will be owned equally by all three companies
and will be located in the United States. By combining resources, the
engine will have the most competitive technologies of the Chrysler Group,
Hyundai and Mitsubishi. Each company will produce the world-class engine
for future vehicle applications. Under the new joint venture, Hyundai
will have the lead responsibility for implementing the decisions of the
joint venture company for design, development and engineering.
The engine will be a state-of-the-art aluminium engine with displacements
of 1.8, 2.0 and 2.4 liters in the range of 120 to 165 horsepower. With
this range of displacement, each company will utilize the engine in a
wide variety of vehicles for various market segments. The modern aluminium
design will enhance fuel efficiency and provide improved performance.
Each company will produce the engine for its own vehicles with the total
production of engines expected to approach 1.5 million units annually,
making this engine one of the most utilized in the industry. The companies
expect that through sharing a common design, the aggregate volume will
provide opportunities for synergies based on economies of scale that will
benefit each company.
With the signing of the joint venture agreement, the new company will
begin operations in May 2002. Initial production of engines by Hyundai
is expected by March 2004, with Chrysler and Mitsubishi engine production
planned to start in 2005 and 2006 respectively. The companies have also
agreed to investigate the possibility of joint production for the engine
in the NAFTA region in the immediate future.
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