Press Kit: 2009 Dodge Challenger

Auburn Hills, Mich. August 16, 2008 - Chrysler LLC’s Brampton Assembly Plant near Toronto, Ontario, Canada, will produce the all-new 2009 Dodge Challenger. The Brampton plant currently produces the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.

“This is good news that the Dodge Challenger will be added to the production line-up,” said Frank Ewasyshyn, Executive Vice President – Manufacturing, Chrysler LLC. “From concept to production in just 21 months, vehicles like Dodge Challenger are critical to keeping our plants humming and our dealerships busy.”

A $151 million (USD) program investment in 2007 at the Brampton Assembly Plant will allow the Dodge Challenger to be built on the same assembly line as the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger.

The Brampton facility underwent modifications to accommodate the all-new Dodge Challenger’s production requirements. The installation of new technology will also benefit future product launches and additional product variants due to greater levels of flexibility.

Modifications to the Body Shop’s underbody system, an enabler of flexibility, give the plant the ability to maintain production of the 2008 Chrysler 300 and Dodge Charger concurrent with pilot production for the all-new 2009 Dodge Challenger. The system carries the underbody components for all vehicles on the same line, eliminating the need for separate conveyor lines for each product.

Forty-two new robots were added in the Body Shop in order to weld the vehicle’s unique body sub-assemblies which will also accommodate future models and product variants at reduced investment levels. A total of 550 robots will now be used in the plant.

Paint Shop modifications include new robotic applications for painting the Dodge Challenger’s unique shape.

“Brampton Assembly continues Chrysler’s flexible manufacturing characteristics of building several different vehicles under the same roof,” said Ewasyshyn. “This flexibility allows the plant to build and pilot multiple products simultaneously through rolling launches, which minimizes production loss and reduces downtime.”

In a rolling launch, pre-production vehicles are built and tested on the same assembly line where current vehicles are manufactured. They are steadily ramped up while not compromising existing production at the plant. This manufacturing flexibility allows Chrysler to improve the quality, cost and timing of its vehicle launches and allows for adjustments to production volumes of different products in order to react quickly to customer demand.

Flexible Manufacturing Strategy (FMS)

The key to the flexible manufacturing process is the order in which the body is assembled using a unique underbody system in the body shop. A flexible pallet system has been used at the company’s Windsor Assembly Plant in Windsor, Ontario, where the Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Grand Caravan are built; Sterling Heights Assembly Plant in Michigan where the Chrysler Sebring Sedan, Sebring Convertible and Dodge Avenger are manufactured; as well as the Toledo North Assembly Plant in Ohio, where the Jeep® Liberty and Dodge Nitro are produced. This means that the same production system may be used to build minivans, sedans, convertibles and sport-utility vehicles.

Flexible manufacturing was first used in the launch of the 2001 Chrysler Town & Country and Dodge Caravan series of minivans in the summer of 2000 at the Windsor Assembly Plant.

Lean manufacturing and product development strategies also allow Chrysler to bring new models like the Dodge Challenger to market quickly. The Dodge Challenger was first revealed as a concept vehicle at the North American International (Detroit) Auto Show in January 2006. Later that same year, it was announced that Dodge Challenger would go into production in 2008.

Brampton Assembly

The Brampton Assembly Plant was built in 1986 and was later acquired by Chrysler Corporation with the purchase of American Motors Corporation in August of 1987. Production of vehicles began in June of 1992. The Chrysler Concorde and Dodge Intrepid began production in September of 1997 and the Chrysler LHS and 300M in April of 1998. Production of rear-wheel-drive vehicles started in 2004 with the launch of the Chrysler 300 and Dodge Magnum. Production of the Dodge Charger was launched in early 2005.

The 2.95 million square-foot facility, along with the Brampton Satellite Stamping Plant, occupies 269 acres and together employs approximately 3,800 workers. The satellite stamping facility was completed and production started in December of 1991.