The former Jefferson Assembly Plant built in 1907 by Chalmers Motor Car Company has produced 8,310,107 vehicles during its 83-year history.
Chrysler Group’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant today celebrated the five millionth Jeep to come off its assembly line. A ‘Billet Silver’ 2014 Grand Cherokee Overland was driven by Senior Vice President of Manufacturing Scott Garberding during a celebration at the plant he once managed. The Jeep will be donated to the United Service Organizations, aka USO.
Earlier this year, Jeep announced that it will donate more than $1 million in vehicles and funding to the USO to for programs that directly support returning service members and their families. The USO and Jeep were both founded in 1941.
To mark the occasion, 50 JNAP employees who have 30 or more years of service and most likely touched almost every one of those five million vehicles, as well as the plant’s Veterans Committee attended. The Grand Cherokee has a commemorative plaque signed by Chrysler Group Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne.
“Twenty-one years ago, the first Jeep Grand Cherokee rolled off this assembly line and while it was questionable whether we would ever make it to this point, the people in this plant never lost their focus,” said Garberding.
After emerging from bankruptcy in 2009, 1,100 new employees were added at the three-million-square-foot facility in October 2012, which now runs three crews, working two 10 hour shifts for six days a week. The plant currently employs nearly 4,500. During
2012, the Jefferson North produced 291,403 Jeeps and is a key part of Detroit’s economy.
Chrysler said it invested $1.2 billion to bring the first Grand Cherokee to market, which includes vehicle research and development, engineering, and construction of and installation of equipment for the then new Jefferson North plant. The groundbreaking for the new plant was on 31 May 1989. The first Jeep Grand Cherokee came off the line on 14 January 1992.
In addition to the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Jefferson North also produced the Jeep Commander from 2005-2010 and began production of the Dodge Durango in December 2010.
The former Jefferson Assembly Plant, built in 1907 by Chalmers Motor Car Company, was twice the size of the new plant’s original footprint (3.6 million square feet compared to 1.75 million square feet, respectively) and produced a total of 8,310,107 vehicles in its 83-year history.
