Suarez™ Posted July 17, 2016 Posted July 17, 2016 Jeep sales are growing, and parent company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles wants to capitalize on it Fiat Chrysler said Thursday it will invest $1.05 billion in assembly plants in Ohio and Illinois to bolster Jeep output. The carmaker will invest $350 million to move production of the Jeep Cherokee from Toledo, Ohio, to Belvidere, Ill., as part of a strategy to revamp its North American manufacturing footprint over the next year and a half to focus on light-truck output in the U.S. Output of the Dodge Dart compact car and the Jeep Compass and Patriot, which are currently made at the Belvidere factory, will cease by the end of 2016. Earlier this year, CEO Sergio Marchionne said FCA is looking to outsource production of the Dart and the low-selling Chrysler 200 to a partner. The Compass and Patriot are being replaced by one SUV, which will be shown at the Los Angeles auto show later this year and will be produced in the Toluca, Mexico, plant. FCA said it also will invest $700 million in the Toledo North assembly plant to make way for the next-generation Jeep Wrangler. About 700 jobs will be added in Toledo, the company said, keeping in line with Marchionne’s earlier promises that switching up Jeep production would not result in job losses in Toledo. FCA didn’t confirm any changes for Toledo South, but it is widely expected that the long-anticipated Jeep pickup truck will be manufactured there. FCA has said the Jeep pickup will be launched in early 2018. An announcement of changes for the Toledo South plant is expected to come by the end of the third quarter.
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