Chrysler Group LLC Announces US$600 Million Investment In Its Illinois Assembly Plant

MULGRAVE, AUSTRALIA – November 3, 2010: Chrysler Group LLC announced today that it will invest US$600 million in its Assembly Plant in Belvidere, Illinois to support the production of future models in 2012, increasing its investments in U.S. facilities to US$2.1 billion since the formation of the new company in June 2009.

The investment includes the construction of a 638,000 square-foot body shop as well as the installation of new machinery, tooling and material handling equipment. Work on the expansion began this summer and will be completed in 2011. The Belvidere Assembly Plant currently builds the Jeep® Patriot and Dodge Caliber.

Scott Garberding, Senior Vice President and Head of Manufacturing for Chrysler Group LLC shared his appreciation and excitement following the announcement.

“We want to thank Illinois Governor Pat Quinn, Illinois Senator Dick Durbin, Illinois Congressman Don Manzullo and Belvidere Mayor Frederic Brereton for working with us to make this investment possible. With their help, the Belvidere Assembly Plant will be expanded and retooled in order to build the next generation of vehicles that will meet the needs of our customers.

“More importantly, this investment recognises the support of the United Auto Workers (UAW) union and the role that our skilled and dedicated workforce has played in producing some of the finest vehicles on the road today,” said Garberding. “Through the implementation of World Class Manufacturing, Belvidere is transforming itself to become one of the safest and most efficient assembly plants.”

"This is an important announcement for Chrysler Group LLC and the UAW as the company makes a major investment in an assembly plant here in the U.S., thereby maintaining good manufacturing jobs in Illinois,” said General Holiefield, Vice President UAW/Chrysler Department. “This investment, along with the strong relationship between our two organisations, will contribute to the future success of Chrysler, our employees and the products we so proudly build."

Since June 2009, Chrysler Group has made significant progress toward building a successful enterprise, including;

reporting an operating profit of US$326 million for the first half of 2010;

announcing a potential investment of US$1 billion in its Sterling Heights, Michigan Assembly plant and surrounding stamping facilities as well as its GEMA facility in Dundee, Michigan;

committing to invest more than US$343 million in its transmission facilities in Kokomo, Ind.;

creating 2,000 new jobs at both the Michigan and Detroit Assembly Plants;

announcing a US$179 million investment to launch production of the Fully Integrated Robotized Engine (FIRE) at the company’s Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA) plant in Michigan, creating more than 150 new Chrysler jobs.

preparing for the Australian launch of the All-new Grand Cherokee in early 2011

About the Belvidere Assembly Plant
The Belvidere Assembly Plant was completed in 1965 and produced its first car on July 7, 1965. The product line from 1965 to 1977 included the Plymouth and Dodge two-door and four-door models, and station wagons, and the Chrysler Town & Country station wagon.

In 1977, the plant was converted to front-wheel drive production. From 1978-1987, the product lines included Plymouth Horizon and Dodge Omni.

In 1987, the plant underwent a US$367 million state-of-the-art, 16-week model changeover to produce the Chrysler New Yorker and Dodge Dynasty, the company's full-size front-wheel drive four-door sedans.

Two years later, the plant underwent a US$72 million model changeover for production of 1990 models that included the Chrysler Imperial and New Yorker Salon.

In 1994, the plant was converted to produce the Plymouth and Dodge Neon. Production of the Dodge Neon ended in September 2005. The Dodge Caliber was launched in December 2005, followed by the Jeep Compass in May 2006 and Jeep Patriot in December 2006.