DaimlerChrysler to Start Selling Dodge Cars in China (Update3)

By Irene Shen |

Feb. 16 (Bloomberg) -- DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's fifth-largest carmaker, will start selling Dodge cars in China as it aims to expand in the world's fastest-growing auto market.

Chrysler will introduce its first Dodge model, three Jeep models and one Chrysler vehicle in China later this year, the company said in an e-mailed statement today.

DaimlerChrysler and its partners are spending 1.5 billion euros ($1.9 billion) in China on increasing capacity in a bid to win market share. Sales of the company's Mercedes-Benz sedans trail behind Volkswagen AG's Audi and Bayerische Motorenwerke AG, which have both built cars locally for at least two years.

The company plans to start producing Chrysler Sebring sedans at its joint venture in Beijing the end of this year, according to Trevor Hale, a DaimlerChrysler spokesman in China.

Mercedes-Benz car sales increased 64 percent to 2,700 units in January from a year earlier, the company said today. Chrysler Group's imported car sales increased 81 percent to 1,477 units from the previous year.

DaimlerChrysler opened a new plant with an annual capacity of 105,000 vehicles in Beijing in September. The factory will make as many as 25,000 Mercedes-Benz E-Class and C-Class sedans a year, as well as Chrysler and Mitsubishi Motor Corp. vehicles.

DaimlerChrysler sold 32 percent more Mercedes cars and 26 percent more imported Chrysler cars last year than in 2005.

The carmaker this week said it may sell or seek partners for its unprofitable Chrysler unit. ``All options are on the table,'' Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said on Feb. 13. Chrysler will cut 13,000 jobs, or 16 percent of the workforce, and close a factory in Delaware, he said.