Chrysler Group Celebrates the
Production of One Million Chrysler and Jeep® Vehicles in Graz,
Austria
Photo: Chrysler
Almost 15 years after the first
Chrysler Voyager rolled off the production line in Graz, Austria
in 1991, DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler Group celebrated a milestone
of one million Chrysler and Jeep® vehicles “Made in Europe.” The
one millionth vehicle was a Jeep Grand Cherokee, Chrysler
Group’s top-selling model outside North America. If placed end
to end, the line of Chrysler and Jeep vehicles that have been
assembled in Graz would stretch from the northern-most point of
Norway (Nordkap) to the south of Italy (approximately 5,000 km /
3,100 miles).
Vehicle production in Graz
began with the founding of Eurostar in 1990, a joint venture
between Chrysler and Steyr-Daimler-Puch Fahrzeugtechnik, now
Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik (MSF), Eurostar produced three
generations of the Chrysler Voyager minivan, and for a short
period of time, the Chrysler PT Cruiser, before being sold to
Magna Steyr in 2002.
Production of the Jeep Grand
Cherokee began at Steyr-Daimler-Puch in 1994 under a
contract manufacturing agreement with DaimlerChrysler Management
Austria (DCMA). Since then, three generations of the Jeep Grand
Cherokee have been built in Graz.
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Today, MSF assembles six
Chrysler Group vehicles for delivery to almost all markets
outside of North America where Chrysler Group operates. They are
the Chrysler Voyager, Grand Voyager, Chrysler 300C Sedan, 300C
Touring, Jeep Commander and Jeep Grand Cherokee. The plant also
assembles the high-performance Chrysler 300C SRT8 and the Jeep
Grand Cherokee SRT8 models. In addition to the manufacturing
operations at the Graz facility in Austria, Chrysler Group also
produces Chrysler Crossfire vehicles in Osnabrueck, Germany.
“We are playing a key role in helping
Chrysler Group’s international product offensive,” said Brenda Muellner,
Managing Director—DCMA. “We have unique expertise, knowledge and
understanding of the customers’ needs around the world and have produced
these vehicles with the level of quality and features that is demanded
in both European and other key markets outside of North America.”
Magna Steyr Fahrzeugtechnik: The plant
While most of the parts that are
common with the North American models are supplied from the U.S., DCMA
purchases vehicle components outside NAFTA amounting to approximately 50
percent of the material costs of the unit. DCMA and its 70 employees
retain control of the parts and inventory, oversee MSF as it assembles
and delivers the vehicles and ensure that all parts built into vehicles
meet Chrysler Group quality standards.
Open five days a week and working
in three shifts around the clock, the Graz facility produces between
80,000 and 90,000 Chrysler group vehicles annually, employing flexible
manufacturing techniques. MSF’s plant has two body shops for the first
part of the body build, but one single production line. The Plant
assembles gas, diesel, and left- and right-hand-drive vehicles for world
markets.
“The production system is totally
flexible, so a Chrysler Voyager could come after a Jeep Grand Cherokee,
followed by a Commander, then a Chrysler 300C. This helps us to adjust
quickly in order to meet the market demand,” said Muellner. “The
dedicated, well-trained workforce and cooperation between the different
groups allowed the plant to reach this one-million-unit milestone.”
