AUBURN HILLS, Mich. – Chrysler Group has confirmed plans to invest $63 million in its Warren Stamping Plant (Mich.) to expand capacity at the facility. The announcement comes following the Warren City Council’s approval in May of the Company’s tax abatement request.
The investment will be used to purchase and install the latest high-speed Servo Tandem Press technology (a 180-inch press line). Construction for the new press line has already begun with production targeted to begin December 2015. The new press line will increase capacity by up to 12,000 hits per day or approximately 3.6 million parts per year. The plant currently operates 12 major press lines and three large progressive press lines, producing 80 million parts annually, with nearly 2,000 employees.
The new Servo Tandem Press will increase the output rate, reduce complexity of the press and improve reliability and maintainability, while also reducing energy usage, the automaker says.
The Warren Stamping Plant, which has been in operation since 1949, provides parts stamped from sheet metal, including hoods, roofs, liftgates, side apertures, fenders and floor pans, for a variety of vehicles built at several of the company’s U.S. and Canadian facilities including:
* Dodge Grand Caravan and Chrysler Town & Country, Windsor Assembly Plant (Ont.)
* Dodge Durango and Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jefferson North Assembly Plant (Detroit)
* Dodge Dart, Belvidere Assembly Plant (Ill.)
* Jeep Cherokee, Toledo Assembly Complex (Ohio)
* Ram Trucks, Warren Truck Assembly Plant (Mich.)
These parts are delivered to the assembly plants, then welded together in the body shops to form the frame of the vehicle.
With this latest announcement, Chrysler Group has invested more than $5.3 billion in its U.S. manufacturing facilities since June 2009. Of that amount, more than $1.8 billion has been spent in Michigan.
