Five Million And Counting, Chrysler's Jefferson Avenue North Plant Success Story

Five Million And Counting

Chrysler's Jefferson Avenue North Plant

Success Story Continues

By Rod Kackley

A Chrysler assembly plant that became iconic of the problems facing the Detroit auto industry in 2009 when workers were arrested for using drugs on their lunch breaks, and one worker killed another in 2012 before taking his own life, has now become a symbol of the reinvention of auto manufacturing in Michigan.

The five-millionth vehicle rolled off the assembly line inside Chrysler Group’s Jefferson North Assembly Plant in the heart of Detroit, August 13.

The 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland in Billet Silver rolled off the JNAP assembly line on Tuesday, Aug. 13 at 2:30 a.m. 


In addition to the standard Trenton, Mich.-built 3.6-liter Pentastar engine and Kokomo, Ind.-built eight-speed transmission, the vehicle has an 8.4-inch Touch Screen Radio, GPS navigation, Blind Spot and Rear Cross Path Detection, Adaptive Speed Control, leather heated and ventilated seating, Panoramic Sunroof and Quadra-Lift Air Ride Suspension.

Some 50 JNAP employees (pictured above), each with 30 or more years with the plant, were front-and- center as the 5 millionth vehicle, a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland, was driven into the staging area and parked right next to a 1993 Jeep Grand Cherokee.


Although the facility was nearly closed in the darkest days of the Great Recession, 1,100 new employees were added to the payroll in the three-million-square-foot factory in October 2012.

Nearly 4,500 people now work inside the plant every day. In 2012, they produced more than 291-thousand vehicles.

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.

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