Chrysler to open factory in Detroit, weeks after GM layoffs
Morning Business Outlook: Fiat Chrysler reportedly plans to open a new assembly plant in Detroit; Sears Chairman Eddie Lampert has offered to buy the company out of bankruptcy for an estimated $4.6 billion.
Fiat Chrysler reportedly plans to open a new Jeep assembly plant in Detroit by reviving an idled engine plant, just weeks after General Motors announced it was cutting 15 percent of its North American workforce and halting production at several factories.
The American automaker intends to build a new three-row Jeep Grand Cherokee for model year 2021, according to the Detroit News, which first reported the story. It could bring as many as 400 new jobs to Motor City, according to the report.
It would be the first new assembly line to open in Detroit in 27 years, and the first new U.S. assembly plant to be built by GM, Ford and Chrysler in more than a decade.
Chrysler could not immediately be reached for comment.
The company’s plans for Detroit came as GM CEO Mary Barra testified on Capitol Hill about the closures, during which lawmakers asked her to keep the plants open. Barra told reporters it was an “incredibly difficult” decision to close the plants in Ohio, Michigan and Maryland and Ontario.
Her decision drew a swift rebuke from President Trump, who threatened to end subsidies given to the company for electric vehicle sales.