« Revamped Romanian first registration car tax to hurt Dacia | Home Page | Lincoln wants to expand outside the U.S. »
Chrysler to adopt Mercedes engines for its small Diesel cars
By Yoann Besnard on 29 January 2008 | 
(0) Comments | Permalink
In an interview with Auto,Motor und Sport magazine, Chrysler Executive Vice President - Product Development Frank O. Klegon revealed that the troubled American company will stop sourcing diesel engines from Volkswagen.
In an attempt to consolidate its suppliers, the company won't renew the contract which will shortly come to an end. Chrysler will source the engines to Mercedes with whom it wants to keep a close cooperation. “We will continue the good cooperation with Mercedes in the future, in the area of fuel cells, diesel engines and gasoline engine development, amongst other things. We will continue to use Mercedes' developments in terms of electronics and advanced safety,“ he said.
Chrysler is currently outsourcing its diesel engines from VM Motori, Mercedes and Volkswagen. VM Motori began its supply relationship with Chrysler in 1992, providing indirect injection engines for the Voyager. It produces the common-rail 2.5-litre and 2.8-litre diesel engines for the Chrysler Voyager and Grand Voyager, and the Jeep Cherokee. Mercedes provides the 3.0-litre diesel unit available on the Chrysler 300C, the Jeep Cherokee and Commander. Volkswagen supplies the lower range with the 138bhp 2.0-litre TDI engine on the Chrysler Sebring and the Jeep Compass. Last year Chrysler sourced 40,000 diesel engines from Volkswagen, around 43,000 from Mercedes and 55,000 from VM Motori.
