Italian auto major Fiat and its U.S. partner Chrysler Group are planning to invest more than $1.3 billion in their plant at Italy. This production facility will make new cars under their Alfa Romeo and Jeep brands. More than half of the cars and sport-utility vehicles to be produced at Fiat’s Mirafiori plant in Turin would be for exported beyond the European Union, especially to North America, Fiat said in a statement.
The investment, through a new joint venture, would revamp the plant, creating a daily capacity of 1,000 vehicles, or 250,000 to 280,000 annually. Fiat aims to launch the new models in the second half of 2012.
The plan, announced as Fiat held a meeting with unions, is part of a wider project envisioned by the Italian group’s chief executive, Sergio Marchionne, to revitalize its home country as a production base.
Dubbed “Fabbrica Italia,” Mr. Marchionne wants to invest €20 billion to upgrade factories in Italy and double production by 2014. It is a big bet on a country where the company doesn’t make any money.
Fiat would use up excess capacity at the factories, which have often sat idle due to weak demand for cars. The move would also create jobs at Mirafiori, one of Fiat’s biggest plants in Italy, with some 5,500 workers.
Source:- WallStreetJournal
