Chrysler to Invest $85 Million in Kokomo Plant

American carmaker Chrysler has just announced that it is pondering a new investment in the Kokomo Transmission Plant (KTP), the same site that received last month a major financial backing from the parent company for the production of advanced front wheel drive automatic transmissions for future models. This time, the reason behind the decision is the need for powertrain improvements, as the company said in a statement.

"We're moving eight-speed production to KTP because we're pulling production ahead and the timing worked better at KTP," said Brian Harlow, Vice President and Head of Powertrain Manufacturing, Chrysler Group LLC. "This move opens up space at Indiana Transmission Plant I (ITPI) to prepare the plant for production of the front-wheel drive transmission, which we announced in November."

In addition, Chrysler has also received the green light from the Kokomo City Council for the company's tax abatement application on the $843 million investment we were talking about in the above paragraphs. The company is thus able to prepare the plant for production of front-wheel drive transmissions, just like it planned in November.

"We are grateful to Mayor Goodnight and the Kokomo City Council for their continued support of Chrysler Group," said Harlow. "These investments demonstrate our commitment to this community and our workforce. We look forward to continuing a partnership that will secure Kokomo's position as the center of our powertrain strategy."

Of course, Chrysler hasn't missed the occasion to brag itself for pumping so much money in the US facilities. Since June 2009, Chrysler has spent more than $3 billion to upgrade American production facilities, a move that added new jobs and improved existing technologies to be used in Chrysler models.