Fiat Chrysler to invest $1B in pair of U.S. assembly plants in Illinois and Ohio
by Canadian Manufacturing.com Staff
Aiming to build up its Jeep brand, automaker investing heavily in Midwest
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said it will invest $700 million in its Toldeo, Ohio plant to pave the way for Jeep Wrangler production. PHOTO FCA
AUBURN HILLS, Mich.—Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has announced plans to pump more than US$1 billion into two U.S. assembly plants in a pair of Midwest states.
Working to boost its Jeep brand, the automaker said late last week that it will invest $350 million and $700 million respectively in its Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois and in its Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio.
Expected to create 300 jobs, work at the Illinois plant includes retooling to prepare for the arrival of the Jeep Cherokee program, which is being moved to Belvidere from Toldeo.
Meanwhile, the north plant at the company’s Toldeo assembly will be retooled to make way for the next-generation Jeep Wrangler, a program that will create 700 news jobs. The future of the site’s south plant, which had been producing the Cherokee, remains uncertain. FCA said it will announce its plans for the facility at a later date.
