RIDING TOGETHER

摘要

Chrysler Corp. and longtime partner Mitsubishi Motor Corp. were on different tracks in the late '90s. Chrysler was racking up huge profits on its minivans, Jeep suvs, and Dodge trucks. Mitsubishi was launching a U.S. rebound of its own: The Japanese carmaker, a proud part of the giant Mitsubishi keiretsu, was determined to succeed on its own with models engineered and designed by its Japanese staff. So when executives from both companies met in 1997 to discuss future collaboration, the partners agreed only to keep building two low-volume coupes together. "We weren't focused on sharing anything. We were going our separate ways," says Richard O. Schaum, Chrysler Group engineering executive vice-president.