Chrysler to Add 1,250 Jobs, Boost Pentastar V-6, Ram 1500 Output

DETROIT – Chrysler announces a $238 million plan to add 1,250 jobs at three Michigan plants, increasing production capacity for two popular engines and its fullsize pickup truck.

The auto maker's truck assembly plant in Warren, MI, which produces the recently refreshed Ram 1500, gets a third crew in March 2013. The move creates 1,000 more jobs and signals Chrysler’s commitment to gaining share in the increasingly competitive pickup market.

Elsewhere in Michigan, the auto maker will invest $198 million at its Mack I Engine plant in Detroit and create up to 250 new jobs there, dependent on market conditions, to boost production of its Pentastar V-6 engine, a Ward’s 10 Best Engines winner.

At its Trenton, MI, plant, Chrysler will spend $40 million on a new flexible production line that can build its Pentastar V-6 and Tigershark I-4 engine, currently available in the Dodge Dart.

Speaking to reporters after addressing dozens of union workers, Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne says it’s possible the Tigershark I-4 could be offered in other vehicles, but he does not reveal which models are candidates to get the engine. For now, he says, the investments signal a trend toward smaller-displacement engines.

The 3.6L Pentastar has replaced seven V-6s formerly in Chrysler’s lineup, and Marchionne says smaller versions are in the cards for the engine family. Multiple variations of the engine will be produced at Mack Engine starting in 2014, Marchionne says.

Production of Chrysler’s 4.7L V-8 will end at Mack Engine in first-quarter 2013. In the interim, workers will begin producing Pentastar crankshafts that will be shipped to Trenton.

Marchionne stops short of saying Chrysler will swipe additional market share from its chief pickup competitors, saying only that it can’t build enough Rams. “We’re seeing very stable demand on the truck side,” he says.

The refreshed ’13 Ram 1500 arrived at dealers in October, well ahead of General Motors’ plans to release its revamped Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra in summer 2013. Ford’s F-Series has been the perennial leader in U.S. fullsize pickup sales, WardsAuto data shows.

Marchionne says he is confident in Chrysler’s ’13-model lineup overall, which will include a diesel-powered Jeep Grand Cherokee due next year. “I think it’s going to make a huge difference in the U.S. market,” he says, noting consumers will notice a marked difference in fuel economy.

Next year also will see the return of Alfa Romeo to the U.S., as well as additional Maserati offerings. Marchionne says he “has someone in mind” for management of each of those brands in North America, but declines to reveal a timeline for an announcement.

“It’s going to be quite deceptive,” Marchionne says about Alfa’s pending return, predicting drivers will be caught off-guard by the advanced technologies that will be in the vehicles.

Chrysler most recently found itself in the middle of a sparring match with former U.S. presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who ran misleading political ads about the auto maker’s plans for Jeep production to China. Marchionne dismisses the situation, but expresses confidence in Jeep.

“If I could make more Wranglers, I would,” Marchionne says, reiterating that Jeep production will remain in Ohio and elsewhere in North America. “We’re working very hard to find ways to increase capacity of that system.”

Marchionne remains bearish about the prospects of an electric vehicle in Chrysler’s lineup even as the debut of a battery-electric version of the Fiat 500 subcompact looms. He is confident, however, that Fiat will complete its acquisition of Chrysler soon, despite the sluggish European market.

“We’re here to grow value,” he says. “However long it takes, three to five years, we’ll do that.”

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