FCA confirms Jeep Wagoneer, Grand Wagoneer, Pickup Truck and US$1 billion investment in US production facilities

The Jeep Wagoneer, Grand Wagoneer and 'Pickup Truck' – likely to be the dual-cab ute based on the next-generation Wrangler off-roader and likely on the radar for Australia – have been confirmed to commence production by 2020, which should see the addition of 2000 American jobs.

With the US$1 billion investment FCA will upgrade the Warren Truck Assembly plant in Michigan to produce the new Jeep Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer, while the south plant of the Toledo Assembly Complex in Ohio will be upgraded to accomodate the upcoming Jeep Pickup Truck.

Additionally, the upgrades to the Warren facility will also allow FCA to produce the Ram truck in the US – it is currently built in Mexico.

Since 2009, FCA US has committed to investments in excess of US$9.6 billion for its North American manufacturing plants and created 25,000 new jobs.

Sergio Marchionne, CEO of FCA, said: "The conversion of our industrial footprint completes this stage of our transformation as we respond to the shift in consumer tastes to trucks and SUVs, and as we continue to reinforce the US as a global manufacturing hub for those vehicles at the heart of the SUV and truck market".

"These moves, which have been under discussion with Dennis Williams and the rest of the UAW leadership for some time, expand our capacity in these key segments, enabling us to meet growing demand here in the US, but more importantly to increase exports of our mid-size and larger vehicles to international markets."

"Our commitment to internationalise the Jeep brand is unwavering, and with these last moves, we will finally have the capacity to successfully penetrate markets other than the US which have historically been denied product due to capacity constraints.  In addition, these all-new products will reach new consumers as well as those that have been part of the Jeep tradition," he added.

However, these announcements are still subject to the negotiation and final approval of incentives by US state and local authorities.

Australia

While the trio of new models haven't been confirmed for a local launch just yet, the company's Australian arm says it is assessing the business case to bring the Wagoneer, Grand Wagoneer and Pickup Truck here.

Stay tuned for more updates as they come to hand.

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