Autoblog

The almost-independent Chrysler has decided to consolidate production of the next-generation 300 at its Brampton, Ontario plant. 30,000 units for European consumption were slated to be built in Austria, but the merciful cancellation of the Imperial has left room for the right-hand-drivers at the Canadian plant. The ability to place a steering wheel on the right side will cost the folks from Auburn Hills a cool $500 million, on top of the $700 million already earmarked for the Brampton retooling. The high price of the Euro also factored into the decision to move 300 production to Canada.

[Source: Auto News - sub. req'd]

As evidence by the complete transformation of Saturn from a plastic-bodied, college car brand to an imported reflection of the European Opel brand, General Motors is serious about sharing its platforms the world over. To that end, the company has announced that all future Chevrolet products will be built to accomodate left- or right-hand drive. It's reported that it will take five or six years for the process to be completed, since certain vehicles like the Chevy HHR were never developed with right-hand drive in mind and must complete their product cycles before right-hand drive can be engineered into their designs. New and upcoming vehicles, however, will be available soon. GM has already confirmed that the upcoming Camaro, for instance, will be capable of being built in right-hand drive, which gives those markets around the world that drive on the other side of the road some hope for seeing Camaro muscle on sale in their countries.

[Source: Newspress]