Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will move its Jeep Cherokee production out of its current Toledo, Ohio, while the production for Jeep Wrangler will remain in the state.
Last year, the car company said it plans to start producing a redesigned Wrangler by 2017. According to Automotive News, Jeep will produce a Wrangler-based pickup truck in Toledo, which makes transferring Cherokee production easier.
The car company's CEO Sergio Marchionne said "We found a solution that accommodates a variety of other interests to us because of the way in which we can move some product around."
"The only way I can move around the Wrangler is to move it into the other Toledo plant," said Marchionne.
Some are concerned about how moving the Cherokee production out of Ohio might affect the jobs of 6,000 employees in the plant. Managers, however, assured workers that the move would not affect the employment levels in the plant. More than half of the workers in the plant work on the Cherokee.
Auto workers and leaders of the city were anxious about the move since it was announced 11 months ago. The major reason for moving the Wrangler assembly line is so that it will have an aluminium body to adhere to the new government gas-mileage standards.
According to reports Jeep Cherokee assembly line is likely to be transferred to the company's Sterling Heights Assembly based in Michigan or Belvidere Assembly in Illinois.
Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Cherokee are the top-selling vehicles of the company so far in the United States. With 139,930 Jeep Wrangler sold and 140,888 Jeep Cherokees from January to August.
The plan of moving Cherokee will ensure the continuity of the production of Wrangler while the plant is readied for the newly designed 2018 Wrangler. FCA aims to produce 350,000 redesign pickup Wranglers per year.
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