After
sitting idle for years at the corner of US 31 and State Road 28 in Tipton
County, Ind., USA, Chrysler Group’s Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne
officially dedicated the company’s new Tipton Transmission Plant and celebrated
the production launch of the fuel-efficient nine-speed transmission, according
to a company statement.
Tipton
will become one of the global hubs for nine-speed production. When it reaches
full capacity, it will ship about 800,000 finished transmissions to Toledo,
Ohio, for use in the Jeep Cherokee and Sterling Heights, Mich., for the
Chrysler 200 as well as to FIAT plants in Melfi, Italy; Tofus, Turkey;
Pernambuco, Brazil; and China. The potential exists to expand production to
other international facilities as needed.
Production
of the first nine-speed transmissions began in May 2013 at Chrysler Group’s
Indiana Transmission Plant I (ITPI). The opening of the Tipton facility
represents phase two, which means additional work for three of the Company’s
facilities in Kokomo, Ind. Castings for the new transmission will come from
Kokomo Casting; machining of the prismatic parts – housings, blocks and heads –
will be done at Kokomo Transmission; and the rotating parts – gears and crank
shafts – will come from ITPI. All will be shipped to Tipton for final assembly.
During
a ceremony at the plant, Marchionne told the audience, which included Tipton
Mayor Don Havens, Tipton County Board of Commissioners President Phil Heron,
UAW Local 685 President Rich Boruff, other invited guests and employees, that
Tipton is an operation that will play a vital role in creating prosperity for
the company and for the surrounding communities.
“My
confidence is rooted firmly in the knowledge that those of you who work in this
area have shown a consistent dedication to delivering products with outstanding
quality,” said Marchionne. “You have embraced the principles of World Class
Manufacturing, which is enabling us to compete with the best manufacturers in
the world. You are the authors of a major success story, creating a great
turnaround and making it possible to create the need for this new plant in
Tipton,” he added.
Marchionne
confirmed that the company would acquire the nearly 782,000 square-foot
facility and invest $162 million to establish an additional assembly site for
the nine-speed transmission in February 2013. He also announced that up to 850
new jobs would be created by the end of 2015, subject to market conditions.
Current employment at the plant is 204.
Source: Chrysler