DETROIT – Chrysler Group’s Chairman and CEO Sergio Marchionne said the automaker plans to invest $198 million in its Mack I engine plant to build the Pentastar V-6 engine, and $40 million to add a flexible production line that can build the Pentastar engine and the inline four-cylinder Tigershark engine. 

Beyond these investments in the plants, Marchionne stated the company plans to add 1,000 new jobs on a third crew at its Warren Truck plant in March 2013, and that it will add 250 jobs at the Mack I plant as part of the investment to build more Pentastar engines.

The Mack I plant currently builds the 4.7L V-8 engine for the Ram 1500, and with this investment will begin producing the Pentastar engines in 2014. When Chrysler phases out 4.7L production in Q1 2013, the Mack I plant will start producing crankshafts that it will ship to the Trenton Engine Plan to supplement that plant’s machining capacity. From there, Mack I will build cylinder heads and blocks.

The $40 million going into the Trenton North plant will give the company the ability to build either the Pentastar or Tigershark engine. The Warren Truck plant will be Chrysler’s third facility to add a third crew, joining Chrysler’s Belvidere, Ill., and Jefferson North (Detroit) Assembly Plants.