The company has said the minivan brought 1,200 jobs to the facility and helped secure the almost 4,000 existing positions at the Windsor plant.
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Premier Kathleen Wynne defended the Ontario government’s $85.8 million grant to Fiat Chrysler Wednesday as a smart investment in the future, and insisted it was not “corporate welfare”.
The funding will support improved research at the automotive research and development centre (ARDC), workforce training at the Windsor Assembly Plant (WAP) and technology enhancements to WAP for manufacturing of the new Chrysler Pacifica Hybrid. This investment builds on Ontario’s competitive advantages by supporting a highly skilled workforce and a business climate that enables innovative research.
The province gave Toyota a $42.1 million grant in 2015 for upgrades at its Cambridge assembly plant and to add a new line at its assembly plant in Woodstock.
Later today, the Premier will participate in a fireside chat at the Automotive Parts Manufacturers’ Association conference in Windsor before travelling to Detroit for meetings with the Ford Motor Company and Michigan Governor Rick Snyder. “Working with Ontario’s auto industry to lead the next wave of vehicle technologies, including alternative fuels and connected and autonomous cars, is absolutely essential for the sector’s long-term future”.
Fiat Chrysler has invested over $2 billion at its Windsor operations over the past 18 months.
“How do we leverage this region’s capacity to be that big player in the globe, and it has to do with our willingness to innovate, our willingness to take risks, our willingness to partner with industry”, she said.
The ARDC, which was opened in 1996, plays a key role in the product development of almost all vehicles manufactured by FCA.
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Daly, CEO of the Woodbridge Group, which manufactures urethane and particle foam technologies for the automotive sector such as vehicle seats and seat frame components, said the uncertainty around General Motors’ future in Oshawa should be an incentive for parts suppliers to be exploring global opportunities. Some of the money will be used for research at FCA’s R&D center in Windsor, called the Automotive Research and Development Centre. “We’re very proud of the support and grateful for the support that we receive from the province of Ontario”.
