Good Things Happening With Chrysler Group -No Plans to Cut Jobs in Next Two Years... GM on The Other Hand...

DETROIT January 11, 2005; John Porretto writing for the AP reported that the Chrysler Group, the only one of Detroit's Big Three automakers to post a U.S. sales gain in 2004, has no plans to cut jobs in the next two years, executives said at the North American International Auto Show. The outlook was less rosy at rival General Motors Corp., which said it expects more reductions in 2005.

This year would be the first since 1999 that Chrysler, the American arm of German-based DaimlerChrysler AG, hasn't shrunk its work force. Chrysler cut 6,000 jobs in 2004 and has cut 40,000 positions since 2000.

The company is counting on continued strong sales of a slew of new products to grow business in the coming years.

"As long as we continue to see growth, we could expect some new hires at select plants to balance off the losses we'll see from attrition and retirements," Chrysler spokesman Mike Aberlich said Tuesday. "We expect the bottom line to be about flat."

Chrysler sales were led last year by the new 300 sedan, which was named North American Car of the Year at the auto show. Chrysler's U.S. sales rose 3.4 percent in 2004, while its Detroit counterparts GM and Ford Motor Co. saw business decline 1.4 percent and 5 percent respectively, according to Autodata Corp.

At the Detroit show, Chrysler unveiled its latest new offering -- the muscular, rear-wheel-drive Dodge Charger sedan, which is scheduled to go on sale this summer. The Charger is part of a product offensive at Chrysler that includes 25 new or redesigned cars and trucks by the end of 2006.

Unlike Chrysler, GM chairman and chief executive Rick Wagoner said Monday the world's biggest automaker plans to trim its U.S. work force again in 2005, part of an ongoing effort to reduce costs.

GM has trimmed its U.S. payroll every year since 2000. Wagoner declined to place a number on targeted reductions, but he said the pattern likely would follow that of recent years.

Through the third quarter of 2004, GM reduced its U.S. hourly work force by about 6 percent versus the same period in 2003 -- from 119,000 to 112,000, GM figures show. For the same period, its smaller, salaried work force declined by 5 percent -- from 40,000 to 38,000.

Ford spokesman Oscar Suris said Tuesday the nation's No. 2 automaker has no targets for work force reductions in 2005, though some jobs may be lost to attrition and "operating efficiencies at some plants."