22 July 2001: The first European-built Chrysler PT Cruisers rolled off the production line last week at DaimlerChrysler’s Eurostar Assembly Plant in Austria, as the company stepped up production in response to strong global demand.

Chrysler has continued to increase production of the PT Cruiser since its introduction in early 2000. In April, the company announced it would expand capacity of its Toluca (Mexico) Assembly Plant from 180,000 to 260,000 units a year. Eurostar can produce 50,000 Chrysler PT Cruisers annually, bringing the worldwide capacity to 310,000 units in 2002.

The flexibility of the Eurostar facility has enabled the company to add the Chrysler PT Cruiser to the same production line as the 2001 Chrysler Voyager MPV, which started production in January. Producing both vehicles on one line will enable the company to easily adjust volumes of either product, depending on customer demand.

The plant held a 'Job One' ceremony marking the first day that customer-ready vehicles began rolling off the production line. Eurostar Managing Director Gary Cash was joined by Herbert Paierl, Minister of Economy & Finance, of the state of Steiermark; Alfred Stingl, Mayor of Graz; major suppliers, community leaders and hundreds of employees at the ceremony.

Both Eurostar and the Steyr-Fahrzeugtechnik (SFT) plant adjacent to it continue to play important roles in realising synergies between Chrysler and Mercedes-Benz. SFT has been producing the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Mercedes-Benz M-Class on parts of the same production line since before the merger of Daimler-Benz and Chrysler Corporation in 1998.

Eurostar currently produces the right and left-hand drive 2.0-litre petrol versions of the Chrysler PT Cruiser for Europe, Asia-Pacific and Africa. It also produces right and left-hand drive 2.4-, and 3.3-litre petrol and 2.5-litre common rail diesel versions of the Chrysler Voyager for Europe, Asia and Africa. TW