Chrysler Invests More Into Toledo Plant To Increase 9-Speed Production

Chrysler will be making another investment into its Toledo Machining Plant in order to increase production capacity for its torque-converters for its 9-speed automatic transmissions. It will invest $19.6 million into the Ohio-based plant in order to produce more converters for the 9-speed transmissions, which are set to make their appearance with Chrysler's 2014 Jeep Cherokee.

The 9-speed transmission will also be implemented into the Chrysler 200 as well as the Dodge Dart. All in all, the company hopes to sell 200,000 cars equipped with the transmission. In a statement released by Scott Garberding, Senior Vice President of Manufacturing at Chrysler, he says that the new transmissions are critical to Chrysler's goal of meeting fuel economy requirements over the next few years.

However, the Toledo Machining Plant isn't the only plant that Chrysler will invest in. It will also be investing into more plants located near Kokomo, Indiana, as well as establishing another manufacturing site in Tipton, Indiana in order to increase productions of the transmission. These plants, alongside its current Transmission Plant I, will focus on assembling the actual 9-speed transmission.

The investment in the Toledo plant will be used to install more equipment and tools into the plant to increase assembling capacity. The installation will take place in Q3 2014 and is expected to finish by the end of that year. This new investment adds onto Chrysler's previous $72 million investment into the plant that it made back in 2011 to help modernize production for both its 8-speed and 9-speed torque-converters. In total, Chrysler has invested $5.2 billion in U.S. operations since June 2009. To keep up with the latest news on Chrysler, or the automotive industry in general, be sure to check out our Cars Hub.

[via Auto Blog]