Motor running.

Fifteen years ago, Chrysler Corp. was forced off the road map in Latin America by financial troubles and fierce competition. But now the U.S. automaker is warming up its engines for a return trip. During a recent visit to the Curitiba in the southern Brazilian state of Parana, Chrysler President Robert Eaton signed an agreement for a US$315 million factory to produce Dodge Dakota pickup trucks. Earlier this year, Chrysler opened an assembly plant in Cordoba, Argentina, the first new assembly plant in an emerging market since 1965. Chrysler already produces Jeep Grand Cherokee vehicles in Argentina and Venezuela and a planned joint venture with Germany's Bavaria Motor Works to build engines in Brazil could bring the corporation's investments in the region to nearly $1 billion.