Monday, January 09, 2017

The Trump Effect: Fiat Chrysler announces $1 billion investment in U.S. manufacturing, 2,000 new jobs


 
 
 
FILE - In this Tuesday, May 6, 2014, file photo, a vehicle moves past a sign outside Fiat Chrysler Automobiles world headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mich.  (AP)

Fiat Chrysler said Sunday it would spend $1 billion on U.S. manufacturing, including modernizing plants in Michigan and Ohio, in a move that’s set to add 2,000 new jobs, Reuters reported. 

According to the company’s plan, the plant in Warren, Michigan will be made capable of producing a pickup truck currently built in Mexico.  

The Warren plant will make the new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer large SUVs. A plant in Toledo, Ohio also will get new equipment to make a new Jeep pickup. 

The move by Fiat Chrysler follows a similar recent announcement made by a competing auto brand. 

On Tuesday, Ford said it would cancel a $1.6 billion plant planned for Mexico and instead invest $700 million in a Michigan assembly plant. Though CEO Mark Fields said the decision would have gone ahead whether or not Donald Trump was elected president, Fields also said Trump's "pro-growth policies" gave the company's executives confidence. 

The president-elect has taken many auto manufacturers to task for Mexican production and encouraged building more vehicles in the U.S. He tweeted at General Motors after the Ford announcement on Tuesday, threatening a "big border tax" for producing cars in Mexico and then selling them in the U.S. GM pushed back on that characterization of its business model. 

Sunday's announcement by Fiat Chrysler also follows news a day earlier that the company was recalling 100,000 mostly older trucks and SUVs to replace Takata air bag inflators. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.