Chrysler Plans to Build Engine Plant in Detroit

Chrysler Corp. will build an engine plant reportedly worth $750 million at its complex on the city’s depressed east side.

The auto maker said in a statement Tuesday that it will convert an existing sports car plant into an engine facility “in the near future” but refused to give further details pending an announcement Thursday.

The plant will employ up to 1,000 people, Detroit News columnist Jon Pepper reported Tuesday. The plant will produce V-8 engines for Jeep Grand Cherokees, Dodge Ram trucks and some passenger cars, the report said.

A $750-million investment would be the largest in the city since Chrysler opened its $1-billion Jefferson North assembly plant complex for Jeep production in January, 1992.

The engine plant will be built on an 80-acre site within that complex, the News said. In a statement, Chrysler said it will “convert the New Mack Avenue Viper Assembly Plant in Detroit into an engine plant in the near future.”

The engine plant will occupy a site where Chrysler now assembles the limited-edition Dodge Viper sports car, the News said. Viper assembly is expected to be relocated nearby.

The project will be a big victory for Mayor Dennis Archer, who has made economic development a key goal of his 15-month administration. The city of 1 million has lost most of its jobs and almost half its population in recent decades.

But Robert Sinclair, chairman of the department of geography and urban planning at Wayne State University, cautioned that a new engine plant would not be a panacea for Detroit.

“Yes, it’s an addition, it’s part of our rejuvenation of manufacturing, which is going to benefit Detroit,” he said. “I wouldn’t say that this alone is a symbol of a revolution.”