A couple days ago we received an email from our good friend Larry, referring us to an article that up until today were unable to find.  We finally located it, so with further ado, the story we should have run two days ago, with a special thanks going to Larry.

It turns out, DaimlerChrysler may have plans to invest approximately $2 billion to help aid in the production of a new global family of V-6 engines.  The project, internally known as Phoenix, will build the new V-6's at three Chrysler engine plants in the United States - Kenosha, Wisconsin; Trenton, Michigan; and Toledo, Ohio; as well as at a Mercedes factory in Germany.

According to Dieter Zetsche, CEO of DaimlerChrysler:  "We are working on a new family which can operate on a modular base."  He added that the program will reduce DaimlerChrysler's V-6 engines "to one family instead of five."

A Chrysler spokesman said the company is still completing some "business plan issues;" UAW sources, however, state that DC plans to invest about $800 million in Trenton, $700 million in Toledo, and $500 million in Kenosha.

UAW sources then went on state what we can expect from the new family of V-6's.

Because the engines will be built on flexible manufacturing lines, DC's engine plants will have the ability to produce multiple types of V-6 engines on a single production line. This means, for example, that if sales of one engine surpass the others, production of that engine can be increased with simple adjustments to the tooling, as opposed to under using another machine, as is in many times the case now.

UAW then went on to describe the versatility of the engines, stating the single engine family will accommodate everything from base engines, i.e., Chrysler minivans, all the way up to high-performance powertrains, such as those on the E-Class and S-Class Mercedes models.  UAW added that on the Mercedes versions, additional features, including variable valve timing and direct injection, would be added.

So how soon will your Mercedes be powered by a Chrysler engine? If the rumors are true, Phoenix engines will first be introduced on 2010 models, with the Kenosha engine plant being the first to produce the new powerplants.

I don't know about you, but I'm not keen on the whole "sharing" issue. Running television spots with Dr. Z boasting of the German engineering found in a Chrysler is one thing, but producing Mercedes engines at a Wisconsin Chrysler plant is quite another.  I have a feeling the majority of Mercedes owners agree.

As always, we'll keep you posted if we hear anything new; in the meantime, head over to Automotive News to check out the full article.

Thanks for the tip Larry.