DETROIT — Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) plans to invest a total of $4.5 billion in five of its existing Michigan plants as well as build a new assembly plant within the city of Detroit. The move would increase capacity to meet growing demand for the automobile manufacturer’s Jeep and Ram brands, including production of two new Jeep-branded white space products as well as electric models. The proposed projects would create nearly 6,500 new jobs. In response to a shift in consumer demand toward SUVs and trucks, the company in 2016 began discontinuing compact car production and retooled plants in Illinois, Ohio and Michigan to make full use of available capacity to expand the Jeep and Ram brands. Those actions have resulted in the recent launches of the all-new Jeep Wrangler, Ram 1500 and the introduction of the Jeep Gladiator.
FCA would invest $1.6 billion to convert two plants that comprise the Mack Avenue Engine Complex into the future assembly site for the next-generation Jeep Grand Cherokee, as well as a three-row Jeep SUV and plug-in hybrid models. FCA plans to start construction of the new Detroit facility by the end of the second quarter. The first three-row vehicles are expected to roll off the line by the end of 2020, followed by the Grand Cherokee in the first half of 2021. This would be first new assembly plant to be built in the city of Detroit in nearly three decades.
The city of Detroit has 60 days to meet the terms of a memorandum of understanding, which requires the acquisition of property critical to the execution of the Mack project. The additional investments are subject to the successful negotiation and final approval of development packages with the state and other local governments.