Chrysler Seeks to be Quality Leader by 2012

For decades Chrysler has had problems with the quality of its vehicles. Chrysler is now seeking to become a quality leader by 2012 and it is doing so with a revamped and much larger quality team and tougher standards.

"It's different now," said Doug Betts, senior vice president in charge of quality at Chrysler. "People are talking openly about problems now and how to fix (them.)"

Betts was recruited from Nissan two years ago under Chrysler's former owner, Cerberus Capital Management LP. At that time Cerberus also pledged to improve Chrysler's quality issues, but then the Chrysler ran out of money.

Chrysler sales are down 38.9 percent this year, so there isn't a better time than now to fix Chrysler's issues. Chrysler, Jeep and Dodge vehicles continue to perform poorly in quality surveys, which has hurt the automaker's sales.

Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has made quality a priority and Betts is hiring more than 200 quality engineers bringing the total to 1,700 from 200 when he started 2 years ago.

Full Story: Detroit News