Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2000 17:49:17 -0500

DaimlerChrysler to extend Jeepmaking at Ohio plant



     AUBURN HILLS, Mich. (Reuters) - DaimlerChrysler AG
said Wednesday that because of record 1999 sales of its Jeep 
Cherokee sport utility vehicle, it will extend production of the
current model at its Parkway Plant in Toledo, Ohio, past the 
scheduled November 2000 ending date.

     A spokeswoman said the company would continue production at the 
plant as long as the market for the SUV remained
strong.

     ``The decision to extend production was driven by the market,'' 
she said. ``Our plans to continue production will be
market-driven. We will monitor the market and will build as many for 
as long as we need.''

     In 1999, Cherokee sales were 165,261, up 13 percent over 1998, 
the company said in a statement. The Cherokee was
introduced in the United States in 1983 and has never undergone a 
major design overhaul.

     The company is spending more than $1 billion to upgrade 
existing factories and build a new facility in time for a new
Cherokee, which is scheduled to begin production in the spring of 
2001. The Toledo plant also makes the Jeep Wrangler small
SUV.

     DaimlerChrysler's other Jeep -- Grand Cherokee -- is built at a 
plant in downtown Detroit.

     ``We have a unique opportunity to continue production of the 
current Cherokee while we ready a new plant for production of
a future Jeep model,'' Martin Levine, vice president of the 
Chrysler/Plymouth & Jeep Division, said in a statement.