FCA has confirmed the Pernambuco plant will be inaugurated on 28 April, and that the Jeep Renegade will be first off the line, according to Efe News Service. FCA chief manufacturing officer Stefan Ketter said that the plant incorporates a new design to streamline production. “The plant’s design is key because it allows for many efficiencies, starting with the fact that we want a plant that is very easy to communicate in, very fast for [making] decisions. To do this, we placed the communications center in the heart of the plant. Our philosophy is that the plant manager should be in the communications center and in two or three minutes is able to physically see the entire plant,” Ketter is quoted as saying. The communications centre is an open-floor layout with no offices. Additionally, Efe reports that the Recife R&D center will specialize in powertrain engineering. Between the R&D center and the plant, FCA is expecting to employ 4,500 people. The supplier park that FCA built, which will include Magneti Marelli, Denso, Pirelli and Lear, is expected to house 16 suppliers, employ 4,000 people, and deliver 40% of the Renegade’s parts. About 80% of parts for the units built in Brazil are expected be locally sourced. Ketter said: "It's the right thing, strategically. At first, it's very complicated, but it will provide security to the plant in the future. Some essential parts cannot be produced in Brazil, but we are in the process of developing suppliers for those components."
Significance: The Pernambuco plant complex has seen investment of more than BRL7 million, and will be the first Jeep plant in South America, the report says (there is CKD assembly of Jeep products elsewhere in the region). The plant launches with capacity of 250,000 annually. Jeep’s primary production source for the Renegade will be the plant in Melfi, Italy. IHS forecasts Melfi will build in the range of 100,000 to 110,000 units per annum (upa), while Pernambuco is forecast to build about 30,000 upa, largely for the South American market.
