DaimlerChrysler to Show Full Lineup of Clean, Environmentally-Friendly Vehicles at Tour de Sol

    AUBURN HILLS, Mich., May 18 Environmentally-friendly
vehicles of today, tomorrow and the future will be displayed by
DaimlerChrysler Corporation at the 2001 Tour de Sol: The Great American Green
Transportation Festival.
    "This is an exciting time in the automobile industry, and DaimlerChrysler
is at the forefront of advanced technology," said Bernard I. Robertson, Senior
Vice President-Engineering Technologies & Regulatory Affairs and General
Manager-Truck Operations at DaimlerChrysler.
    "More than 6,500 of our neighborhood electric vehicles, the GEMs, are on
the road, contributing to cleaner air.  And our sport-utility vehicles,
pickups and minivans have the best overall fuel efficiency of any full-line
automaker.
    "We are committed to remaining a leader in protecting the environment, and
the vehicles we are displaying at Tour de Sol will help us do that.  This is
an opportunity for students and the general public to get a sneak preview of
the vehicles they will be driving within just a few years," Robertson said.
    Visitors to the event will also have the opportunity to talk with
DaimlerChrysler engineers about the clean, fuel-efficient vehicles on display.

    *  GEM, DaimlerChrysler's battery-powered neighborhood electric vehicles.
    *  Dodge Durango HEV, the hybrid electric version of DaimlerChrysler's
popular SUV, with 30 percent better mileage than its conventional counterpart.
DaimlerChrysler will sell the vehicle beginning in 2003.
    *  Dodge Ram HEV, the hybrid electric pickup with 20 percent better fuel
efficiency than the conventional Ram, plus an onboard electrical generator.
The vehicle will be sold beginning in 2004.  In addition, DaimlerChrysler is
working with the U.S. Army to adapt the Ram HEV's clean, fuel-efficient
technology to national defense needs.
    *  Jeep(R) Commander, the luxury SUV with an advanced fuel cell powertrain
that gets 50 percent better fuel efficiency than a comparable vehicle, with
nearly zero emissions.

    DaimlerChrysler will be selling thousands of hybrid electric vehicles,
such as the Ram and Durango, each year by the middle of this decade.  The
company will deliver fuel cell-powered busses to several cities in Europe
beginning next year and will start to sell fuel cell passenger cars in 2004.
    "Protecting the environment is everyone's job every day at
DaimlerChrysler.  The environmentally friendly vehicles that we are developing
are an important part of that job," said Robertson.
    The DaimlerChrysler vehicles can be seen at the following cities on the
Tour de Sol route: Albany, New York (Empire State Plaza), May 23; Greenfield,
Massachusetts, May 24; Worcester, Massachusetts, May 25; and Boston,
Massachusetts (City Hall Plaza), May 26.