 US has officially confirmed a $266 million investment in the Kokomo Transmission Plant in Indiana. Earlier this month, FCA US (Chrysler Group, at the time) notified city officials during the Kokomo Common Council meeting of the impending investment, but this marks the first official public announcement from the company. This is […] "'Pin It")
FCA Confirms $266 Million Investment in the Kokomo Transmission Plant
FCA Confirms $266 Million Investment in the Kokomo Transmission Plant
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) US has officially confirmed a $266 million investment in the Kokomo Transmission Plant in Indiana. Earlier this month, FCA US (Chrysler Group, at the time) notified city officials during the Kokomo Common Council meeting of the impending investment, but this marks the first official public announcement from the company.
This is the sixth time that FCA has invested in its Kokomo Transmission Plant since June of 2009. Those sixth investments together total nearly $1.8 billion. This most recent investment in the Kokomo plant is to increase capacity of the TorqueFlite eight-speed automatic transmission, which is growing in popularity.
“Since the launch of the eight-speed, employees at Kokomo Transmission have been working practically round the clock to produce this advanced, fuel-efficient transmission,” remarked Brad Clark, Head of Powertrain Manufacturing Operations, at FCA North America. “We are pleased that vehicles equipped with this transmission have been so well received by consumers. This investment will give us the additional capacity we need to make it available across even more vehicles in our product line.”
In 2013, the first full year that Kokomo built the TorqueFlites, the plant put out about 300,000 eight-speeds. Compare that to the first 11 months of 2014, when the plant has more than doubled its output of the eight-speed, at almost 700,000. The TorqueFlite transmissions are available on the Chrysler 300; the Dodge Challenger, Charger, and Durango; the Jeep Grand Cherokee; and the Ram 1500.
“We are grateful to Mayor Goodnight and the Kokomo Common Council for their continued support of FCA US,” added Clark. “This investment further demonstrates our commitment to this community and our workforce, and firmly establishes Kokomo as the center of competence for transmission production.”
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