Chrysler will add 1,100 jobs as it prepares to launch a diesel version of its popular Jeep Grand Cherokee.
Chrysler will add another 1,250 jobs at a pair of assembly plants in the Motor City, as it prepares to launch production of a diesel-powered version of the Jeep Grand Cherokee along with an all-new Dodge Viper sports car.
The biggest increase, involving 1,100 workers, will come with the addition of a third shift at the Jefferson North Assembly Plant, on Detroit’s east side. Meanwhile, Chrysler will re-open its old Connor Avenue Assembly Plant, adding another 150 jobs. The facility was closed prior to the maker’s 2009 bankruptcy when it stopped production of the old Dodge Viper.
“Our future, like the history of our brands, is interwoven with the City of Detroit,” said Chrysler Group Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne. “We believe that investing in Detroit is not only the right thing to do, but it is a smart thing to do as we work to write the next chapter in our shared history.”
Chrysler has added thousands of jobs, many of them in the city, since emerging from Chapter 11 protection in mid-2009. While some involve workers who had been on indefinite layoff, a sizable number are all-new positions. And many of those fall into the new Tier II job classification approved by the United Auto Workers Union as part of recent cost concessions.
Those workers have been earning about half as much as veteran Chrysler employees – who collect about $52 an hour in pay and benefits – though the new UAW contract signed last autumn will boost second-tier wages by about $3 an hour over the next four years.
Some of the biggest job growth at Chrysler has come at the Jefferson Avenue, or JNAP, plant, which only recently added a second shift to handle strong demand for both the Jeep and the Dodge Durango – both sharing the same crossover/SUV platform. It will now employ 4,000 workers on a 24-hour-a-day schedule.
The Jeep diesel will be Chrysler’s first oil-burner in half a decade and will be closely watched as a test of demand for the high-mileage powertrain technology. American makers have been reluctant to embrace diesel but German marques, notably Volkswagen and Mercedes-Benz have been generating strong demand – as much as a third of sales for models like the VW Jetta.
The next Viper, meanwhile, will further expand the ties between Chrysler and its Italian partner Fiat. Originally conceived as a somewhat retro paean to the classic American sports car the next-gen Viper will borrow its underlying platform from Fiat’s Maserati brand.
Both the new Dodge Viper and the Jeep Grand Cheokee Diesel will reach market in 2013.