Chrysler is breaking ground on the new Jeep assembly plant in Toledo, Ohio today. The plant it schedule to begin producing a completely redesigned Jeep Cherokee for the 2001 model year. The complete Chrysler press release appears below.

Toledo, Ohio -- Chrysler Corporation officially broke ground today on its new 1.1-million square-foot manufacturing facility in the City of Toledo. The new plant, adjacent to Chrysler's current manufacturing facilities on Stickney Avenue on Toledo's north side, will produce Jeep® sport-utility vehicles for sale worldwide beginning in 2001.

The project represents an estimated $1.2 billion total investment and includes more than $600 million for an assembly facility, machinery and equipment at the new Stickney site. It also includes refurbishment of an existing 290,000 square-foot building on the current Stickney Avenue site, an improved paint shop at the current Jeep Parkway location, and various other improvements at the Parkway facility.

"Our major consideration in selecting a site was to have a new manufacturing facility that would allow us to retain our current outstanding Toledo workforce," said Robert J. Eaton, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Chrysler Corporation. "They'll soon have a new home for producing some of the best sport-utility vehicles in the world.

"When you think about the number of manufacturing facilities in urban areas that are sitting idle or permanently closed, coupled with the number of large companies moving out of cities, it's clear that we're embarking on an extraordinary project," said Eaton. "We couldn't have done it without our key partners -- Governor George V. Voinovich, Mayor Carelton S. Finkbeiner, the Toledo City Council, the local UAW and all the employees at Toledo Jeep Assembly."

Construction of the new plant begins August 1, and is scheduled to be completed in the fourth quarter of 1999. Following tooling and equipment set-up and verification, pilot production begins later in 2000, with Jeep sport-utility vehicles from the plant to begin sales worldwide in 2001.