Chrysler will add about 500 workers at an engine plant in Ramos Arizpe (Mexico), reports Bloomberg, citing two people familiar with the matter. According to the report, the company plans to invest USD164m to expand engine production at the Ramos Arizpe facility. Sergio Marchionne, CEO of Fiat and Chrysler, is expected to provide further details on the investment later this week.
Significance: Chrysler has been increasing its manufacturing footprint in Mexico and an expanded parts facility will help it rationalise production cost further, especially in the US. In July this year, Chrysler started assembling ProMaster, a Ram version of the Fiat Ducato light-commercial vehicle, at a facility close to the Ramos Arizpe plant – Marchionne said last week that the van assembled in Mexico uses some parts from Fiat’s Ducato facility in Italy, reports Bloomberg. Besides, Fiat builds the North American version of the 500 subcompact at a plant in Toluca. Sharing components, technology and production capacity among Fiat and Chrysler brands is a part of a strategy to combine the two brands for synergy.
