DaimlerChrysler and China Motor Corp. Celebrate Start of Chrysler Town & Country Production

* Chrysler Group’s LaSorda, “The Chrysler Town & Country produced here meets our worldwide standard for quality and is ready for our customers in Taiwan.”
* DaimlerChrysler Northeast Asia Chairman and CEO Dr. Till Becker, “Working together, we were able to combine the best attributes of the world’s best minivan with features tailor made for the Taiwanese market.”
* CMC Vice Chairman Kai Tai (Kenneth) Yen, “We are proud to produce the best-selling minivan in the world.”

Auburn Hills, Mich., Apr 18, 2006 –

One year after announcing that the Chrysler Group would license China Motor Corp. (CMC) to produce the Chrysler Town & Country, the first customer-ready vehicle is rolling off the production line at CMC’s Yangmei facility.

Tom LaSorda, Chrysler Group President and CEO, made his second trip to Taiwan in eight months to review the Chrysler Town & Country production launch and celebrate the first customer-ready vehicle.

“Thanks to the hard work of the men and women of CMC and the Chrysler Group to help prepare this launch, the Chrysler Town & Country produced here meets our high worldwide standard and is ready for our customers in Taiwan,” said LaSorda. “With the roll-off of the first customer-ready vehicle, CMC joins the family of Chrysler minivan production facilities in the U.S., Canada and Austria. I’ve been in hundreds of plants, and helped launch dozens of vehicles, and I can tell you that this is a world-class operation, and we are proud of our ongoing partnership with CMC.”

“Today is another milestone for DaimlerChrysler in Northeast Asia, and we believe there are tremendous opportunities to continue to grow the business of all our vehicle brands here,” said Dr. Till Becker, Chairman and CEO of DaimlerChrysler Northeast Asia. “Licensed manufacturing is a very efficient way to bring vehicles to the market quickly. Working together, we were able to combine the best attributes of the world’s best minivan with features tailor made for the Taiwanese market. We appreciate the partnership and support of CMC for this and other projects.”