Michael Martinez and Melissa Burden, The Detroit News Published 1:48 p.m. ET Sept. 1, 2015
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will keep building the Jeep Wrangler in Toledo
(Photo: Detroit News file photo)
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will keep building the Jeep Wrangler in Toledo, according to a union representative who was briefed on the automaker’s plans Tuesday morning.
Rich Crayon, UAW Local 12 chairman for Toledo Molding & Die, a supplier that assembles instrument panels and other parts for the Wrangler, said FCA confirmed this morning it will keep Wrangler at its sprawling Toledo Assembly Complex. The decision was first reported by Automotive News, which also said Cherokee production would leave the plant and a new Wrangler-based pickup would be added there.
Crayon said the automaker didn’t confirm the Cherokee and pickup news, but said there have “been discussions” about those products for the past few months.
The confirmation of the Wrangler ends months of speculation about the future of the popular Jeep and the Toledo plant where it has been made. Toledo officials have recently spent millions to purchase and clean up land in an attempt to convince FCA to keep the Wrangler there.
“You’re talking about thousands of people that depend on that work,” Crayon said. “I think it’s a good thing.”
Toledo Assembly Complex directly employs about 6,000 and pumps an estimated $350 million into the local economy through wages and salaries. City officials estimate another 12,000 to 18,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of dollars are generated as a result of the facility, as well.
LMC Automotive is forecasting that the new Wrangler will begin production in fall 2017, with a Wrangler-based pickup also scheduled to begin production in late 2017 or early 2018, said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting with LMC Automotive.
IHS Automotive, meanwhile, is forecasting the new Wrangler will begin production in Toledo late next year, with the Jeep pickup coming sometime in 2017.
LMC and IHS Automotive do not currently forecast the Cherokee moving out of Toledo. Schuster said a complete redesign of the Cherokee is not scheduled until 2020, but it will get a facelift sometime between now and then.
“I suspect this is all part of negotiations going on,” Schuster said.
The automaker and UAW currently are negotiating a new contract as the current four-year pact expires mid-month.
FCA CEO Sergio Marchionne told Automotive News he has “found a solution” how to best expand production of the Wrangler.
“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,” Marchionne said. “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist (to know) that the only way I can move around the Wrangler is to move it into the other Toledo plant.”
The automaker on Tuesday declined to comment further.
“Mr. Marchionne made some statements in an interview with Automotive News regarding Wrangler production. Those comments stand on their own and we have nothing further to add,” FCA spokeswoman Jodi Tinson said in an email.
Jeep in recent years has played with the idea of a Jeep pickup through concept models. The most well-known are the Jeep J-12 produced for the annual Moab Easter Jeep Safari off-roading event in 2012, and the Jeep Gladiator based on the Jeep Wrangler platform that debuted at the 2005 Detroit auto show.
The brand earlier this year also showed a Wrangler Red Rock Responder Concept pickup that Jeep CEO and President Mike Manley told reporters in late June garnered “phenomenal” response.
Manley said then that he remained interested in adding a pickup for the Jeep brand, but stressed there was no company announcement.
“Me, personally, I think a pickup truck in the Jeep brand is something that is very applicable to Jeep,” he said. “Yes, my personal belief is that the pickup truck would be an excellent addition.”
IHS Automotive senior analyst Stephanie Brinley said a Wrangler-based pickup likely would be smaller than the midsize Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon and Toyota Tacoma pickups.
“The Jeep fan base has been incredibly receptive,” she said. “It does likely need to be four seats, four doors.”
Both the Wrangler and Cherokee have been hot sellers for FCA this year. Wrangler sales through August this year have totaled 139,930, up 16.5 percent from the same period in 2014, while Cherokee sales have totaled 140,888, up 24.1 percent.
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