Chrysler will add another 1,000 U.S. workers to support production of the Dodge Dart.
The strong upturn in U.S. car sales will translate into a wave of new jobs for American auto workers. Chrysler, Volkswagen and Honda all are announcing plans to expand production – meaning more workers – at plants across the country.
The biggest increase announced this week comes at Chrysler. During a call to discuss the maker’s $183 million profit for 2011, CEO Sergio Marchionne revealed the maker will add another 1,000 workers at a plant in Belvidere, Illinois. That will come in the form of a third shift to handle production of the new Dodge Dart sedan.
Chrysler has added thousands of jobs in the last 12 months and is preparing to ramp up production – and employment at several other facilities, including about 1,600 workers who will man a third shift at the Jeep plant near downtown Detroit and another Motor City facility that will begin production of the newly-updated Dodge Viper sports car later this year.
But the domestic makers – Ford and General Motors also on a hiring binge – aren’t alone, a new study suggesting 100,000 U.S. auto jobs will be added this year and next.
The VW Passat line in Chattanooga.
Both Honda and Volkswagen said this week they plan to add a total of 350 new jobs at factories in the United States as the comeback of the American auto industry continues to create jobs once done in Europe and Asia.
Volkswagen has had particular success since opening its new assembly plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee last year. U.S. sales surged 48% in January, largely driven by demand for an all-new version of the midsize Passat.
Jonathan Browning, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America Inc. said the sales success of the new sedan is prompting VW to begin hiring 200 additional employees, bringing the total workforce at its new assembly plant in Chattanooga to 2,700. VW opened the Chattanooga assembly plant in May, 2011 and the Passat went on sale in September. Before the opening of the plant VWs solid in the US had been imported from Mexico and Germany.
Honda said it will produce its technically advanced continuously variable transmission or CVT on a new assembly line at Honda Transmission Mfg. of America, Inc. The modernization and expansion of the Russells Point transmission plant, along with the new pulley component production at the Anna plant, will create 150 new jobs.
The Anna (Ohio) Engine Plant will manufacture high-tech pulley components for Honda’s new CVT technology, which is part of the new Honda ‘Earth Dreams’ powertrain technology lineup, to be deployed for the first time in the U.S. in the all-new 2013 Honda Accord due in showrooms late this year.
“For decades, our two Ohio powertrain plants have worked together to deliver advanced products for our customers,” said Hide Iwata, president and CEO, Honda of America Mfg. Inc. Initially, these components will be supplied from Honda operations in Japan, before CVT production for U.S. models is taken up by the Anna plant, he said. “The production of this new CVT technology puts the Buckeye State right in the middle of Honda’s global strategy,” he said.
The CVT technology will improve both performance and fuel efficiency by approximately 10% compared with the current five-speed automatic transmission, Iwata said, adding Honda’s new Earth Dreams 2.4-liter direct-injection engine, which will also be produced at the Anna engine plant.
President Barack Obama cited the comeback of the U.S. auto industry – and its rapid creation of new jobs — during his State of the Union speech last month.
A study by the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Mi. estimated automakers and suppliers will add 60,000 jobs this year and another 37,000 jobs in 2013.
Paul A. Eisenstein contributed to this report.