Chrysler investing $20M in Toledo plant to support 9-speed auto production

In 2011, Chrysler announced a $72-million investment in its Toledo Machining Plant to modernize production of the eight- and nine-speed torque-converters for automatic transmissions made there. That upgrade work won't be finished until Q3 of this year, but Chrysler has already announced a further $19.6-million investment to increase production capacity for the nine-speeders.

The extra units will be necessary because the nine-speed transmission they'll be mated to is going into three popular models: it will debut on the 2014 Jeep Cherokee, then go into the Chrysler 200 and Dodge Dart. The company predicted that this year alone it would sell 200,000 units equipped with the nine-speed tranny, and it is spending some $374 million in addition to the investment in Toledo to upgrade production capacity for it.

The work attached to this new investment won't begin until Q3 of 2014.

Source : 

2013 New York Auto Show – Jeep Cherokee 2014

We have seen this before, haven’t we? But what’s different in these pictures is that Jeep has unveiled the production version of the Cherokee 2014 at the New York Auto Show. Sitting atop a modified Alfa-Romeo platform, the Cherokee will be offered in front and four-wheel drive configurations. Customers can opt for a 190PS 2.4-litre 4-cylinder or a 278PS 3.2-litre engine. A nine-speed auto transmission is standard across the range. The most hardcore variant will come with Jeep’s acclaimed Active Drive Lock and Selec-Terrain.

As far as the design goes, the Jeep Cherokee looks very much like... what else but a Jeep. The redesigned fascia though is said to be more aerodynamic. It will be in US showrooms towards the end of this year.

By Team Overdrive
SUBSCRIBE NOW