Chrysler Corp. and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. will ink an agreement this week whereby the Japanese automaker will continue to produce sport coupes for Chrysler at its Normal, Ill., assembly plant.
The production agreement was set to expire in 1999, but sources here at a media preview of the Detroit Auto Show said the automakers will renew the pact for at least five years.
Normal was designed to produce 240,000 cars annually but has not reached capacity, one reason Mitsubishi last year had to inject $350 million into the Downstate operation to offset production losses and maintain its assembly agreement with Chrysler.
Mitsubishi now builds the Galant sedan and Chrysler Sebring/Dodge Avenger coupes off the same platform and the Mitsubishi Eclipse and Chrysler’s Eagle Talon sport coupes off another platform at Normal.
Under the renewed agreement, Mitsubishi will build the next-generation Avenger and Sebring for Chrysler, though the cars might not bear those same names, for five years beginning in 1999.
While Mitsubishi will continue to build an Eclipse coupe at Normal, Chrysler will drop its Eagle Talon after the 1998 model run and not replace it.
Mitsubishi last year signed an agreement with Chrysler to supply it with V-6 engines. While Chrysler is building new V-6 engines in Kenosha for 1998 and future models, it said it wouldn’t have enough for all its vehicles without Mitsubishi supplies.
Mitsubishi plans to use Normal to bring out a new Galant this fall for the 1999 model year, a vehicle that will debut at the Chicago Auto Show next month. A new Eclipse, to be displayed in concept form at the Chicago show as well, will bow in the 2000 model year.
While plans call for a new ’99 Galant to be built at Normal, Avenger/Sebring won’t be redesigned until the 2000 model year. Chrysler said the automaker still isn’t sure whether those cars will keep their current names when the restyled versions appear.
For the 2000 model year, Mitsubishi will then begin producing a redesigned Eclipse at Normal.
Chrysler sources refused to say how many vehicles Mitsubishi will produce for it annually under the new pact.
Enter MV-99: Honda trotted out the MV-99 at the auto show media preview, a concept of the all-new front-wheel-drive mini-van built off the Accord platform coming this fall. The concept featured an office on wheels complete with computer terminals. The actual van will be focused more on seats for the folks and kids, and four doors–a swingout and power slider on each side–for easier entry and exit. The concept also has GPS navigation, which might find its way into the production model. The MV-99 probably is the end of the road for the Odyssey, Honda’s van that looks more like a station wagon.
Two to go: Honda also has the J-VX concept sports coupe, a 70-mile-per-gallon model powered by an electric motor connected to a gasoline engine. The electric motor stores energy while driving to provide power when needed for acceleration. By storing electric energy for use on-demand, the vehicle uses less gas and, therefore, has fewer emissions.
Cougar pause: Gone, but not long so that it would be forgotten, the Mercury Cougar returns in two-door, four-passenger sports coupe form built on the smaller, front-wheel-drive compact Mercury Mystique platform rather than its former midsize rear-wheel-drive layout. It goes on sale in the spring as a ’99 model.
Cougar, which bears a striking resemblance to the Acura CL coupe, will be offered with a 2-liter, 125-h.p. 4-cylinder or 2.5 liter, 170-h.p., 24-valve V-6 and comes with four-wheel anti-lock brakes and dual front air bags as standard; side-impact bags as optional.
The new Cougar is a hatchback with split fold-down rear seats to increase cargo capacity.
Mercury says it will cater to the young crowd and, as such, will be available with optional bike, snowboard or ski racks. And to prevent radio theft, the station select buttons can be removed when you leave the car.
NASCAR sedan: Ford also unveiled the NASCAR Taurus, the first full-time four-door competitor in NASCAR history to take on the Chevrolet Monte Carlo and Pontiac Grand Prix when the season opens Feb. 15 at the Daytona 500.
Looks and style: Ford announced its British partner Aston Martin has teamed up with Alfred Dunhill to offer an Alfred Dunhill Aston Martin DB7 fitted with Dunhill luggage plus a Dunhill humidor, silver cigar-cutter, cigar lighter and set of carbon fiber pens. A non-smoking edition is available with a Dunhill grooming kit replacing the humidor.
Flex those muscles: For those to whom a humidor is of secondary importance, Ford’s Aston Martin partner also unveiled the Aston Martin Project Vantage concept, a 200-m.p.h.-plus experiment in the use of high-strength, light-weight materials with a high-power, low-emission engine. The concept boasts a 6-liter, 48-valve V-12 capable of 0- to 60-m.p.h. acceleration in 4 seconds and a 140-m.p.h. quarter-mile time while getting 20 m.p.g.
Intimidation factor: As a tease, Chevy also displayed the Monte Carlo Intimidator, a NASCAR-inspired concept that provides a glimpse at the styling Chevy intends to use on the next-generation Monte Carlo due in 2000. Intimidator is powered by a 295-h.p. version of GM’s 3.8-liter V-6 and is “just barely” street legal, according to Chevy general manager John Middlebrook.
Up to the Taz: Chevrolet has signed a three-year agreement with Warner Bros. to make the Tasmanian Devil the spokesman for the production and racing versions of the Monte Carlo.
Middlebrook said that despite Monte Carlo’s huge success on the NASCAR racing circuit last year, marketing research revealed most folks consider it a luxury car for older folks rather than a performance car for the young at heart. Enter Taz.
Chevy thought it time to change the image and get across the message that “you can have a devilishly good time in a Monte Carlo,” Middlebrook said.
“The Tasmanian Devil is a wild and crazy cartoon character that we will use in print and TV advertising,” said Middlebrook. “When you see the Tasmanian Devil, we want you to immediately think of the Monte Carlo,” Middlebrook said, adding that the character also will be featured on apparel as well as T-shirts sold at racetracks and dealerships.
“The beauty of the Tasmanian Devil is that while it’s a character kids have grown up with, many of those kids are now grownups and its influence goes across many generations,” he said.
How will Chevy judge the Tasmanian Devil’s impact on Monte Carlo sales?
When folks walk into the showroom, hand over a check, and say, “The Devil made me do it,” Middlebrook said.
Am-bracadabra: Pontiac gave the media an early look at the ’99 Grand Am, which is built on the same platform as the ’99 Oldsmobile Alero replacement for the compact Achieva.
Grand Am now sports a 3.3-inch longer wheelbase and wheels moved to the corners for better ride and handling, and 1 1/2 inches more width for increased cabin room.
Yet it retains much of the look of the current model with its “cats-eye” headlamps, twin port grille and round driving lamps.
Grand Am will be offered in SE sedan and coupe, and GT sedan and coupe. The SEs arrive in the spring, the GTs in the summer after a late April preview at the New York Auto Show.
Two engines–a 2.4-liter, 150-h.p. 4-cylinder and a 3.4-liter, 170-h.p. V-6–will be offered.
Standard features in both include 4-speed automatic, ABS, air conditioning, daytime running lamps, power locks, remote trunk release, battery rundown protection, oil-life sensor, traction control, rear defogger, trip odometer, illuminated entry and intermittent wipers.
Encore: Plans call for all of the above vehicles shown at the Detroit Auto Show to be spotlighted as well at the Chicago Auto Show Feb. 7 through 15 in McCormick Place South.
