DaimlerChrysler to Invest $275 Mln at Truck Complex

Feb. 23, 2005; Rip Watson writing for Bloomberg reported that DaimlerChrysler AG's U.S. truck and engine units will spend $275 million to expand a manufacturing and office complex near Detroit to take advantage of growing demand for commercial trucks.

The investment in Redford, Michigan, includes new offices that will be the headquarters of the Freightliner unit's Sterling and Western Star truck businesses, the company said in a statement today. The Detroit Diesel unit by 2007 will make a new heavy-duty truck engine and add a medium-duty model, and the Axle Alliance subsidiary will build gear sets as well as axles.

DaimlerChrysler has sold more Mercedes and Freightliner trucks in the U.S., South America and Western Europe as the global economy grew and companies replaced aging vehicles. U.S. heavy-truck output this year will rise 13 percent to 293,000, automotive supplier Dana Corp. estimated today.

The changes during the next two years will make the Redford complex ``a place where leading commercial-vehicle components will be designed, developed, tested and produced,'' said Rainer Schmueckle, Freightliner's chief executive, in the statement.

The 3.2 million-square-foot Redford complex, which began operating in 1938, has about 2,800 workers. DaimlerChrysler didn't say how many new jobs would be added as the expansion is completed. Sterling and Western Star headquarters will be moved from Willoughby, Ohio, in the second quarter, the company said.

Detroit Diesel's union workers in November ratified a six- year contract that included the additional engines for Redford. The agreement was reached after a strike of less than 24 hours.

Stuttgart, Germany-based DaimlerChrysler's U.S. shares rose 3 cents to $46.32 at 4:15 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They have gained 1.7 percent in the past year.