Report: Fiat Chrysler to Open 'New' Assembly Plant in Detroit
While General Motors is busy “unallocating” some of its plants, Fiat Chrysler is opening a new one. How’s that for optics?
The company will reportedly convert an existing facility, the so-called Mack Avenue Engine II plant, one which began making small V6 engines in the year 2000 but was idled about five years ago. This new vehicle assembly plant is slated to make the three-row Grand Cherokee.
Wait, what?
According to a report in The Detroit News, people familiar with the matter have said the new assembly plant will build a new three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee for model year 2021. This is surprising, since the company has already approved plans to spend six months of next year retooling its Warren Truck Assembly Plant in an effort to prepare for production of a 2021 full-size three-row SUV, the Jeep Wagoneer.
Sketching out this timeline on the back of a napkin, this could mean that Jeep will have a pair of new three-row SUVs for the 2021 model year: a unibody machine to go up against the Explorer et al, plus a bigger brute to take on the Suburban and its ilk. Far-fetched? Maybe. But a guy can dream.
As a whole, it is estimated that FCA is running at greater than 90 percent capacity, compared to GM and Ford’s 72 and 81 percent (respectively) through the end of November. In particular, the FCA plant of Jefferson North is said to be bursting at the seams, humming along at 130 percent capacity cranking out Grand Cherokee and Durango SUVs.
With these capacity numbers, FCA is playing an animated game of musical chairs, shuffling product around in a bid to keep production up, instead of simply idling plants for retooling. Firing up the old Mack Engine II building for a three-row Grand Cherokee would permit FCA the luxury of producing such a machine while retooling Jefferson for the next-gen GC.
Jeep is red hot right now and well on its way to moving a million units annually. Year to date, the brand has sold 892,778 vehicles and found homes for 73,784 rigs in November alone. With the addition of the Gladiator pickup plus a pair of three-row SUVs, it wouldn’t be much of a stretch to make up that difference.
Regarding the physical buildings on site, the Mack Avenue Engine Complex currently cranks out an abundance of 3.6-liter Pentastar engines, plus the 3.2L Pentastar that finds a home in the Jeep Cherokee. The “II” part of the complex made the discontinued 3.7-liter V6 and was idled in September 9th, 2012.
Signs look good for that facility to hum once more. An official announcement is expected late next week.
[Image: Fiat Chrysler Automobiles]
Matthew buys, sells, fixes, & races cars. As a human index of auto & auction knowledge, he is fond of making money and offering loud opinions.
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Although my toy is a Jeep TJ, I've always had Honda or Toyota in my garage. I have to say, of the five vehicles that I have my eye on for my next daily driver, three are FCA.
I am looking forward to the official press release from FCA, because I have questions about what has been leaked. From what I have read, Mack II only has 650,000 of space. That isn't much for a final assembly line. They would either have to build a conveyor to bring bodies from the Jefferson North body plant, if it has the extra capacity, or build a new body plant on the site of the old Hudson parts warehouse and axle plant which was cleared a few years ago, with a conveyor over Mack and the railroad tracks. Either way, 400 new jobs doesn't seem anywhere near enough to staff a final assembly line. The Rouge truck final assembly building is 2M sqft and requires 1,000 people per shift. Can't shake the thought that FCA would be happier if it just bought the GM Detroit plant and moved the GC in there. Marchionne had been complaining for years that he couldn't get enough GCs out of Jefferson North. And, in all this discussion of 3 row GCs and 2 row GCs, I have not seen any mention of the Durango. The Durango has been the defacto 3 row GC. will it be discontinued, or will the name move back to the pickup platform? In an interview last June, Marchionne said that 22 was the date for a totally new GC, in both 2 and 3 row versions. Wouldn't take much to bump that up to 21 as Marchionne said the platform development was done last spring. The Jeep timeline calls for 22 to be the debut of a new Renegade, new Cherokee, and a "low D 3 row", which I would interpret as a replacement for Journey, as well as the Wagoneer.