Gov. Jennifer Granholm, who joined a group of company, union and governmental dignitaries in making the announcement, says Chrysler had been pondering the fate of the plants. "This is a great day for the individuals and families of people who work in a facility that was contemplating closure and going to another state or to Mexico," Granholm says. "This makes a lot of us feel a lot more comfortable," adds Jesse Mitchell, president of UAW Local 1264, which represents workers at the stamping plant, which, like the assembly plant, is located on Van Dyke Avenue.
DaimlerChrysler says $278 million will be invested by the automaker at the assembly plant, which currently makes Chrysler Sebrings, Dodge Stratus and Dodge Neons. Tom LaSorda, chief operating officer of the Chrysler Group, says he wouldn't say which vehicles will be built at the plant in the future because of competitive issues, but did say the plant's new configuration will make it flexible enough to produce several different vehicles.
The $278 million to be spent at the assembly plant will pay for a complete overhaul of the body shop and improve the paint shop and the assembly areas. The plant will get 620 new welding and material-handling robots.
DaimlerChrysler will also spend $228 million to improve operations at the stamping plant. LaSorda says new robots and lean manufacturing tools to be put in place at the plant will reap a 45% cost savings over current standards.
"These two plants will be on the leading edge of our strategy to become a fully flexible corporation," LaSorda says.
Each plant employs just over 2,500. In February, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. approved a single business tax credit valued at approximately $18.8 million as well as an Economic Development Job Training Grant valued at $500,000 to win the project. The city approved abatements of the company's new personal property taxes totaling more than $17.8 million for the stamping and assembly facilities.
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