(February 28, 2013) KOKOMO, Ind. — Chrysler Group announced today that it will invest nearly $374 million to boost transmission production and add about 1,250 new jobs in north-central Indiana, making it the largest transmission installation in the world.

Chrysler Group Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne confirmed that the company would make investments and add jobs at the following local plants:

    • Kokomo Transmission, Kokomo Casting and Indiana Transmission I Plants: investing $212 million for additional tooling and equipment to produce the eight- and nine-speed transmissions; adding up to 400 new jobs, subject to market conditions. Work on the facilities is scheduled to begin in the second quarter 2013, with equipment and tooling to be installed in the fourth quarter 2013.

    • Tipton Transmission Plant: acquiring the former Getrag facility and investing $162 million to establish an additional assembly site for the nine-speed transmission; creating up to 850 new jobs, subject to market conditions. Production at the site will begin in the first quarter of 2014.

“Our investments in Kokomo and Tipton are a tribute to the character of the men and women of Chrysler who survived a near-fatal experience and have embraced the challenge of building an enterprise that is able to compete with the best in the world,” said Marchionne. “Our powertrain team has consistently demonstrated the ability and the willingness to think in unconventional ways in order to exceed expectations.

With this announcement, Chrysler Group has confirmed investments of more than $1.6 billion in Kokomo for production of the eight- and nine-speed transmissions as well as various other process improvements at all four area facilities — Kokomo Transmission, Kokomo Casting, Indiana Transmission I and Indiana Transmission II. Chrysler Group currently employs over 6,100 in Kokomo.

In addition to announcing new investments and new jobs, Marchionne celebrated the start of production of the Kokomo-built eight-speed transmission, which can be found in the new Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Charger.

In the Grand Cherokee, the eight-speed transmission drives the new EcoDiesel, as well as the 3.6-liter Pentastar V-6 engine.

In total, Chrysler Group’s investments in its U.S. facilities have risen to nearly $5.2 billion since June 2009. In the same time frame, the company has added nearly 8,000 U.S. hourly jobs.