DCX Sequitur

Automotive Manufacturing & Production,  Sept, 2000  by Gary S. Vasilash

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How does a company follow up a popular coupe, sedans that attained three of the four top spots in the 2000 Entry Mid-size segment of the J.D. Power Initial Quality Study, and the vehicle that it has essentially defined (i.e., the minivan)? Here are the answers.

Driving Forward in Cars.

"Cars still matter."

Which is an interesting comment from Ron Zarowitz, product planning executive, of the 2001 Dodge Stratus and Chrysler Sebring coupes, if for no other reason than the fact that he feels it's necessary to say it. Of course cars matter. But his point is that not everyone is buying sport utility vehicles (SUVs). In fact, he points out that as many of the Baby Boomers become Empty Nesters, they are rolling out of SUVs and minivans and back into cars like the coupes of their days gone by.

So in anticipation of meeting their needs, they have created a new platform for the coupes, and renamed the vehicle formerly known as the Dodge Avenger.

The coupes are built at the Mitsubishi Motor Assembly plant (formerly known as Diamond Star Motors) in Normal, Illinois (the plant that went on line in 1988 as a venture between Mitsubishi and Chrysler--and now Chrysler is DaimlerChrysler and DCX has a controlling interest in Mitsubishi Motors, so suffice it to say that what was known as Diamond Star is, well, we're not sure). And so they share a platform with the Mitsubishi Eclipse coupe (and also the Gallant, which is, curiously enough, a sedan)...but they are 3 in. longer than the Eclipse. The two DCXs are siblings in size and yet are visibly distinct: the hood, doors and roof are the only body panels that are shared between the two. Given that there is a conscientious effort by DCX designers to establish brand cues (e.g., Chryslers having the egg-crate grille and the Dodges displaying the signature cross-hair grille), the treatment of not only the fascias, deck lid and the tail lamps (with the rear of the Sebring seeming like a scale model of a 300M and the Stratus linked to the Intrepid), but even the window treatments are linked.

The bodies are a whole lot stiffer than their predecessors (+90% bending; +9% torsional). Not only was this achieved through the addition of materials (more steel), but also by improving component design. And the fact there is a one-piece body side aperture rather than the assembly of seven pieces that make up the side of the previous generation doesn't hurt, either.

And while on the topic of not hurting, there was plenty of attention to providing notable occupant protection through the implementation of materials: thick, high tensile steel side members are used to help absorb impact; there are extended reinforcements to the A-pillars to help oppose roof crushes; a high tensile steel roll-formed beam is used in the front bumper. And there is plenty of foam padding beneath the interior skin.

Meanwhile, over at the Sterling Heights Assembly Plant (SHAP) in Michigan, the Chrysler Sebring and the Dodge Stratus sedan are being manufactured. Just as the Dodge traded a name in the coupe segment, Chrysler is trading a name in sedans: the Chrysler Cirrus is now the Sebring.

The product development time for the sedans was 26 months. That's eight fewer than were necessary for the first-generation sedans, which debuted in 1995. Although it took less time, it cost more money: the development program for the first generation came in at $940 million. This time it was $985 million-- but there are at least two nontrivial differences. For one thing, previously, the Sebring convertible was being produced in Toluca, Mexico. That plant is where the PT Cruiser is being built. Even before it was known just how popular that vehicle would be, the plan was to produce the convertible at SHAF--not in a separate area of the plant, but on line, along with the sedans. Also, they have been able to improve the layout of the plant and have instituted a lean approach to inventory (e.g., having about just two hours' worth at line-side), so that there is room opened up in the plant to be able to accommodate a future vehicle.

Once SHAP is fully running, the sedan capacity is 300,000 units

Designers At Work: More Than Digital French Curves

DCX design is certainly one of the corporation's competitive advantages. In fact, those DCX employees who don't work in the design office are probably jealous of those who do since the designers tend to garner so much positive publicity (as in the preceding sentence).

But as one example from the development of the Chrysler Sebring sedan (see the photo on the cover of this magazine) indicates, there is a whole lot more going on in DCX design than the creation of clever shapes.

During vehicle testing (physical, not digital in CATIA) it was determined, recalls Trevor Creed, senior vice president of Design, that there was insufficient engine cooling on the Sebring, egg-crate grille notwithstanding. A solution that the engineers came up with was to add holes to the nose of the vehicle. This would have provided the necessary airflow for cooling, but the holes would have, Creed points out, been rather unsightly.