Automaker Stellantis (NYSE:STLA) has opened the first new vehicle assembly plant in Detroit, Michigan since 1991, creating 5,000 jobs in the Motor City.
Stellantis has officially opened its new $1.6-billion U.S. Detroit assembly complex, showing off parts of a three million square foot campus that was completed during the pandemic.
Grand Cherokee L vehicles will be built at the Stellantis plant. They are the first of a new generation of Jeep's best-selling model aimed at expanding the brand's sales to customers who want an SUV with three rows of seats.
Grand Cherokees previously only offered seating for five. Now, with room for as many as seven passengers, Jeep can take on rivals such as Ford Motor Co's Explorer, General Motors’ GMC Acadia and larger SUVs from European and Japanese automakers.
The plant, which began building vehicles in March, now is operating three shifts a day. About 2,100 Detroit residents have been hired at the plant, Stellantis said.
As the Mack assembly complex accelerates production, Stellantis will have two adjacent factories in Detroit capable of building 500,000 or more Grand Cherokee models a year.
The nearby Jefferson North Jeep plant was built in 1991 - and until now was the Motor City's newest assembly plant.
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