Automotive Trucks information on net.

More than 45,000 tons of steel per year will be required by Tower Automotive Inc. to make frames for the next-generation Dodge Dakota pickup trucks, which are scheduled for introduction by the Chrysler Group of DaimlerChrysler AG in mid-2004 for the 2005 model year.

Chrysler will purchase the steel itself and reallocate it to Tower, Chrysler sources here said.

Originally planned for introduction in 2003, the redesigned Dakotas are expected to be roomier inside and slightly bigger on the outside than their predecessors. They will require more steel to produce because of their size as well as the company's performance targets for safety and ride, a Chrysler executive said.

The Dakota frame business, expected to involve mainly hot-rolled steel, is thought to be worth close to $70 million annually to Tower Automotive, which is based in Grand Rapids, Mich. There will be a mix of stamped and hydroformed tubular steel components in the frames, Chrysler sources said, but stampings are expected to account for most of the applications. The frame design details have not yet been finalized, however.

Capturing the new Dakota frame business is important to Tower Automotive, which last year lost out to Magna International Corp., Aurora, Ontario, in the competition for the tubular steel-intensive frame business associated with Chrysler's next-generation Dodge Durango sport utility vehicles scheduled to be introduced next year.

Tower is one of the biggest independent steel parts-fabricating companies in North America, and most of its business is auto-motive. The company makes aluminum stampings and weldments, as well as steel stampings, tubular parts and subassemblies.

Suppliers of the steel for the new Tower-built Dodge Dakota pickup truck frames have not been chosen yet, and probably won't be until late next year. The steel suppliers involved with the Magna-built Durango frames have not been selected, either.