* Third shift adds approximately 750 jobs in Third Quarter * Toledo benefits from $600 million investment AUBURN HILLS, Mich., June 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Chrysler Group today announced that manufacturing operations at its Toledo (Ohio) North Assembly Plant will be expanded to include a third work shift beginning in Third Quarter 2006. The new shift will add approximately 750 jobs to the facility. The addition of the third-shift operations coincides with the all-new Dodge Nitro production. The majority of the jobs will be filled with current Chrysler Group employees who will be called back from layoff. "Cooperation between the union, management and the workforce has been the foundation of the Company's ability to institute our flexible manufacturing strategy," said Frank Ewasyshyn, Executive Vice President - Manufacturing, Chrysler Group. "Flexible manufacturing allows us to coordinate market responsiveness appropriately -- a key driver for success." In November 2005, Chrysler Group announced that it would invest $600 million at Toledo North, giving the plant the flexibility to add Dodge Nitro assembly to the line that has been producing the Jeep(R) Liberty since 2001. Those investments also added more than 160,000 square feet of floor space, new equipment -- including more than 150 new robots -- new conveyors as well as important new processes that will contribute to the plant's productivity and quality. "We are honored to have been selected as the assembly plant to produce the Dodge Nitro," said Luis Rivas, Toledo North Assembly - Plant Manager, Chrysler Group. "By embracing a flexible operating environment and focusing on continuous improvements, we were able to secure another product for our facility." The 2.10 million square-foot Toledo North Assembly Plant occupies 200 acres and has more than 2,700 employees. Groundbreaking of Toledo North began in fall 1997. Production of Jeep Liberty launched April 2001. Next door, DaimlerChrysler's all-new Toledo Supplier Assembly Plant will begin building an all-new Jeep Wrangler in the summer of 2006. The new plant will be operated by the Chrysler Group and three supplier partners: Magna International, Kuka Group and Hyundai Mobis, who will manage unprecedented levels of the manufacturing operation. This "supplier park" frees Chrysler Group capital to be invested in new product development. Chrysler Group has demonstrated a long-standing commitment to invest in existing facilities and provide good-paying jobs in urban environments. By renovating many of its existing facilities, Chrysler Group was a leading corporate investor in urban America during the 1990s. This decade, the company is continuing the trend in cities such as Toledo, St. Louis, Detroit and Warren, Mich. DATASOURCE: Chrysler Group CONTACT: Michele Tinson, +1-248-705-2456, , or David Elshoff, +1-248-512-2690, , both of Chrysler Group Web site: http://www.media.daimlerchrysler.com/ http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/

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