Chrysler to Shift Jeep Production to Ohio

Chrysler Corp. and local and state officials announced today an agreement to bring more Jeep production and possibly hundreds of jobs to Toledo.

Company spokesman Michael Glusac said Chrysler will move production of the Wrangler YJ from Brampton, Ontario, to Toledo starting Jan. 1, 1993.

The company also said that if it decides to build the new JJ model, it will be produced in Toledo by 1993.

In return, the city and state will provide an incentive package that could total $22.5 million over the next 10 years.

“The agreement meets Chrysler’s needs as well as the needs of the city and state for a framework for determining the future of Jeep in Toledo,” Glusac said at a news conference.

“Market conditions must ultimately govern our decisions about what vehicles we make, where we make them and in what volume. However, the agreement being announced gives us assurances about what Chrysler can expect in the years ahead,” he said.

The company already makes the Jeep Cherokee and Grand Wagoneer in Toledo.

Mayor John McHugh said he would ask the City Council to grant Chrysler a 10-year tax abatement on personal property taxes on an estimated $75-million worth of equipment the company expects to install at its two Toledo plants. The equipment would be for production of both vehicles.

Toledo agreed to provide up to $500,000 a year for seven years starting in 1991 for improvements to the plants.

The state agreed to provide up to $5 million for retraining workers.

The agreement is the final piece of a package that was needed to move Jeep Wrangler production to Toledo from Brampton and keep the two local plants operating beyond 1992. The plants employ 5,300 people.