SINDELFINGEN, GERMANY -- After a long day of speeches and travel, Eric Ridenour, the Chrysler Group vice-president in charge of product development, is obviously weary as he sits down to dinner.

But he's not so tired he can't appreciate a rival auto maker's future product plans.

Ridenour's full of cautious praise when the conversation turns to upcoming products based on General Motors's new Kappa vehicle architecture. Kappa is GM's new rear-drive platform that will provide the mechanical foundation for the Pontiac Solstice roadster and perhaps a new Chevrolet Nomad car/truck crossover.

Would a Nomad-like car look good as the replacement for the aging and essentially uncompetitive Dodge SX2.0/Neon?

"I don't have any inside information . . . but if [GM] can hit their numbers with Kappa, that would be pretty impressive and it would be something we would look at carefully," says Ridenour who, facing a reporter armed with a notepad, is himself being watched carefully by two public relations officials as he tucks into his entrée and avoids his wine glass.

Between bites, Ridenour concedes the SX2.0/Neon is in a difficult struggle with a field of high-quality entry level cars -- from the best-selling car in Canada, the Mazda3, to such well-established nameplates as the Honda Civic, Ford Focus and Toyota Corolla. And then there are the South Korean entrants, which are earning new respect for quality.

In the most recent J.D. Power and Associates Initial Quality Study, released last month, Hyundai posted a 29-per-cent improvement.

Hyundai owners reported just 102 problems per 100 cars in the first 90 days, equalling Honda's score and close behind Toyota (101 per 100 vehicles). Chrysler lagged with a below-average score of 120 problems per 100 vehicles.

The question for Ridenour is when will Chrysler beat Hyundai in J.D. Power's closely watched quality study?

"We will be at the very top by 2007, no later," says the product boss. "I'd like to be there sooner, and we're working on it, but 2007 at the latest."

Ridenour, who was visiting Germany from the United States to speak at a technology conference, isn't just concerned about problems or so-called "things gone wrong."

Rather, he and Chrysler CEO Dieter Zetsche have long insisted all of Chrysler's future products will beat the competition by delivering not just good quality, but more novelty and excitement at affordable prices.

Exhibit A is the Hemi V-8-powered, Canadian-made Chrysler 300C. Sales of roughly 10,000 in the first month were triple the number company executives predicted.

It's this drive to "surprise and delight" buyers that is so intriguing about Kappa, from a Chrysler perspective.

GM has big plans for Kappa. This architecture -- the mechanical underpinnings of a car or truck on which many different models can be built -- will carry not only the Solstice roadster when it goes on sale in 2005 priced below $30,000. Kappa is also the basis for a wide range of products GM aims to build for global markets.

Chrysler has demonstrated a deep interest in returning to rear-wheel-drive vehicles after decades of selling front-drive cars exclusively. The 300C and its wagon sibling, Dodge Magnum, are both rear-drive with optional all-wheel drive.

But those are big cars. Could Chrysler be contemplating rear drive for its small-car lineup, moving in a direction along the lines of GM's Kappa?

Ridenour says Chrysler is watching GM with interest. GM product boss, vice-chairman Bob Lutz, has said his company's small, rear-drive architecture gives it a lot of freedom to be creative.

Kappa is designed to deliver great ride and handling, as is required for roadsters such as the Solstice. But the same sort of racy road manners should be expected of a production version of the Nomad concept vehicle, which could arrive in showrooms by mid-2007. Other Kappa spinoffs could include a new Chevrolet coupe, a hardtop Buick convertible and the long-sought "entry" model for Cadillac.

Ridenour and other Chrysler officials have made it clear they feel ride, handling and performance are vital to the Chrysler Group revival. Ridenour says future Chrysler and Dodge brand models will definitely not be "me-too" products that do not stand out.

To speed up its aggressive new-model schedule, which this year will deliver nine new models, Chrysler has regrouped its product development group under Ridenour's direction. The idea always is to improve quality, cut costs and support more flexible manufacturing, he says.

The realignment will split cars and trucks into three groups by 2007 to share parts and factory capacity. Details of how this new structure will include partner Mitsubishi Motors remain somewhat in the air, Ridenour says, referring to the recent decision by DaimlerChrysler to keep its stake in Mitsubishi but cut off future funding to the troubled Japanese firm.

Currently, Chrysler and Mitsubishi were slated to share more than half of their volume of new models by 2007.

New Chrysler mid-size cars coming in 2005 and 2006 share platforms, engines and components with Mitsubishi and Hyundai, 37-per-cent and 10-per-cent owned by DaimlerChrysler, respectively. Complicating the picture, there are reports DaimlerChrysler will sell its stake in Hyundai.

Ridenour expects his Chrysler Group and Mitsubishi to continue working closely on several projects, including small-car platforms and a new engine plant.

The current program calls for the partners to more closely integrate manufacturing.

Next year, Chrysler Group plans to begin selling the first of a wave of co-developed vehicles. Together, Chrysler and Mitsubishi have been developing a new platform for a wide range of small and mid-sized vehicles, including replacements for the Dodge Neon and Stratus, Chrysler Sebring and PT Cruiser.

Chrysler officials say the vehicle-platform development is well-advanced, with the basic engineering finished.

Typically, the next steps for new models include validating design, crash testing and validating the production process. The replacement for the SX2.0/Neon is slated to debut in 2005.

The new joint products less than a year away are being developed under a commercial agreement between Chrysler and Mitsubishi. But longer-term joint projects, those two or three years away, are hard to predict, Ridenour says.

The Chrysler Group is introducing nine new 2004 and 2005 models this year, including: The 300C sedan; Magnum wagon; a redesigned 2004 Dodge Durango sport-utility; Ram SRT-10 pickup; PT Cruiser and Crossfire convertibles; a new Grand Cherokee; and renovated 2005 minivans with so-called "stow 'n' go" fold-flat seating system.

Ridenour says his team is gaining confidence now that five of the company-record nine new vehicles have completed the most critical phase of their launch and are in production. But there is no time for rest. The nine models are part of a three-year product push that will see the introduction of 25 new Chrysler vehicles.

But no one should underestimate the challenge at Chrysler: the need to put hits into showrooms. Analysts suggest that, of the big six auto makers operating in North America, Chrysler is the weakest.

Ridenour, however, insists that today, Chrysler is about as cost-efficient as Detroit rivals GM and Ford. He says Chrysler will be the equal of global cost and quality leaders Toyota, Nissan and Hyundai.

As he winds up dinner, it is clear that on the professional front, Ridenour still has a lot on his plate.