Thomas Stallkamp does double duty at Chrysler Corp. He is vice president of procurement and supplier operations, which means he is in charge of purchasing and ordering all parts and components, what Chrysler pays for them and into which vehicles they go. But he also is general manager of Chrysler’s large-car operations, overseeing the design, development and sale of the automaker’s recently introduced LH sedans as well as the upcoming JA-body replacement for the midsize A-body Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim. We had the opportunity to chat with Stallkamp briefly in a break in his typically meeting-laden day. An edited transcript of the interview follows.
Q-There was a lot of talk the last couple of years about Chrysler offering a V-8 engine in a new large car soon built off the LH platform. Where does Chrysler stand in regard to adding V-8 engines?
A-We still have a study program going on over the V-8, but it’s not an approved program. We are reassessing our powertrain needs now. We’re having so much sales success now with the LH’s that we are studying what we need for the rest of the decade to meet emissions and fuel-economy regulations. There are people who want even more performance, but we have to ensure we meet those upcoming emission and mileage laws. Some onerous emission laws are coming in 1996 that make a V-8 less likely. With the success of the LH (which offers a choice of two V-6 engines), we’re skeptical over the need for a V-8. There’s a big customer base who want a luxury rear-wheel-drive car with a V-8. But we think that will change when they drive a Chrysler LHS and realize how responsive the V-6 is.
Q-You mention a rear-wheel-drive luxury car. There also had been a great deal of talk the last couple years about a rear-wheel-drive luxury coupe and/or sedan from Chrysler. Where does that program stand?
A-If we have a V-8, it will be in tandem with a rear-wheel-drive car, and the rear-wheel-drive program is a lower priority. We want to see what Congress is going to do about future mileage regulations first. I’m glad we didn’t go ahead with a V-8 earlier like we had planned until we get more clarity from Congress. Rear-wheel-drive is a low priority now because we are pouring our money into those vehicles that are sales successes like the LH and Grand Cherokee and mini-vans as well as products we expect to do well in the near future like the Neon (subcompact replacement for the Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance coming out in January) and the JA (replacement for the midsize Dodge Spirit and Plymouth Acclaim coming out in the fall of 1994 as ’95 models). You have to prioritize your investment money.
Also, lots of luxury-car buyers are going into sport-utility vehicles like the Grand Cherokee. We see a lot of luxury imports being traded in on the Grand Cherokee. And look at the Europeans getting into that market, one of whom is coming here. (Mercedes-Benz will begin selling a U.S.-built luxury sport utility vehicle for the 1997 model year.)
Q-You came up with a concept of a luxury sports sedan called the Chrysler 300 in 1991 and a concept of a luxury sports coupe called Thunderbolt this year that were almost as much of a sensation on the auto-show circuit as the Dodge Viper, which eventually went into production. We’re still waiting to see something produced. What’s happening?
A-We want to do it, and would if we had unlimited amounts of money to invest in such products. In fact, we just had a meeting regarding long-range product plans and what markets we want to be in and what we want to do in terms of new products. If we do a 300, it would be at the end of the decade. A Plymouth Prowler (concept of a 1930s coupe unveiled on this year’s auto show circuit) would come out sooner than a 300. We are still interested in low-volume niche cars like Viper but have to prioritize our investments.
Q-Is the LH sedan as large as you are going to get in terms of future cars or might you bring out even bigger cars in the future?
A-I think the LH/LHS package size is about as big as we need to get and about as big as you’ll see.
Q-But what about an upper-level showpiece, an Imperial version if you will, representing a top-of-the-line model that’s even bigger and more luxurious than the LH line for those who eventually will want to move up from the LH without sending them off to your competitors for such a car?
A-Our position is that the luxury buyer is changing. You see that with the growth of the sport-utility market. The luxury buyer is going more for value in a vehicle rather than for more brand image. Cadillac has bigger luxury cars, but we go after different markets than they do. We’ve put the Imperial name away for a while and don’t think we’ll be putting it on anything soon. We don’t think the luxury market is going to grow as much in the future as the market will for the JA, so we are focusing on our new JA for 1995.
Q-There’s talk in the near future of Cadillac coming out with a convertible version of a four-door sedan. Has Chrysler anything in the works for a convertible version of your LH four-door sedan?
A-We’ve looked at it, but that’s a very limited market and we have no plans to do so now. We feel if you are going to have a convertible, it should be on a two-door. We don’t see a big enough volume market to justify a four-door convertible.
Q-The LH has been a success and has been described as a vehicle that brought about a renaissance at Chrysler. What will the JA contribute?
A-It will be a fantastic follow-up, along with the new Neon that’s coming, but be more of a competitor with the Japanese than the LH is. The LH basically has attracted domestic buyers, but the JA will be a true import fighter. The JA will be a smaller LH but with lots of room. It will go head-to-head against (Toyota) Camry and (Honda) Accord. It will have better ride and handling and more space than either of those two cars. Since the Japanese cars have gotten so expensive, the JA also should represent better value than Camry/Accord. A rap against the current A-body cars (Spirit/Acclaim) is styling. The JA will be a styling knockout.
Q-Mitsubishi has supplied engines to Chrysler in the past. Will it continue to do so?
A-We, in fact, are going to be a supplier of engines to Mitsubishi in the future for their new vehicles coming out of Diamond-Star (the replacement for the Mitsubishi Eclipse). The fluctuation in the value of the Japanese currency against the U.S. dollar and the cost of transportation from Japan doesn’t lend itself to getting engines from them. One exception will be a new low-volume V-6 from Mitsubishi for the JA car. We’ll get a V-6 from Mitsubishi as an option for the JA cars. We’ll have two multivalve 4-cylinder engines of our own for those cars, but some people want a V-6 so we’ll offer a Mitsubishi V-6 as an option.
Q-Why not use the 3.3-liter, V-6 now offered in your LH sedans?
A-It’s too big for the JAs. We’re looking at a 2.5- to 3-liter multivalve V-6 from Mitsubishi for the JA.
Q-Is it true J. Ignacio Lopez de Arriortua, who until recently was purchasing chief for for General Motors Corp., was your idol?
A-Idol? There’s a word in the other direction that would be better. Actually, though, he’s the best thing that happened to us (Chrysler) and helped shine the spotlight on what we are doing.
Q-Did he make it easier for you to deal with suppliers?
A-Sure. Because of his unusual tactics (arm-twisting bordering on torture to get price concessions and more GM-friendly contracts from suppliers), he helped drive people to us, and we benefited from it because we were on the right wavelength with suppliers. I think you’ll hear more about him in Europe (Lopez has joined Volkswagen as head of worldwide manufacturing), but it’s nice to get him off the front pages here.
Q-Chrysler purchases 70 percent of its parts and components from outside sources. Might we see that percentage increase to save money on the high cost of operating your own plants?
A-At 70 percent we are the highest among the domestics, and we’re comfortable with that. We are looking at some more small-component suppliers but for the most part when it comes to engines/transmissions/body stampings, which are about 25 to 30 percent of the overall value of the vehicle, we’ll do those on our own.
Q-You mention transmissions, but when it comes to the upcoming subcompact Dodge and Plymouth Neon, you’re sourcing the 5-speed manual from your New Venture Gear joint venture with GM.
A-Manuals make up a low percentage of the total number of transmissions. Automatics are the biggest percentage, and we want to make all of our own automatics.
