Chrysler will spend $1.8b to build, expand Mich. factories

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. -- Chrysler Group committed to $1.8 billion in new and expanded factories in Michigan because it can't wait for parent DaimlerChrysler AG to decide on the US unit's future, chief executive Tom LaSorda said yesterday.

The automaker acted to remain competitive, LaSorda said in unveiling plans including a $730 million engine factory in Trenton and a $700 million axle plant in Marysville.

"Regardless of what happens, we have the responsibility to deliver our recovery and transformation plan," LaSorda said at Chrysler headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich. "We must continue to run this ship."

DaimlerChrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche said April 4 he is in talks to sell the third-largest US automaker after the unit's $1.5 billion loss in 2006.

United Auto Workers president Ron Gettelfinger said he plans to ask fellow members of DaimlerChrysler's 20-person supervisory board to keep Chrysler.

The Chrysler chief said the investment is a "long-term" decision and that waiting would erode the company's competitiveness.

That plan also calls for cutting 13,000 jobs over three years.