DUNDEE, MI — On Oct. 3, the Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA) launched volume production of the World Engine in the first of two plants opening in Dundee. Each GEMA plant will have the capacity to build 420,000 engines annually. The second GEMA plant is scheduled to launch in 13 months. Altogether, 530 new jobs will be created, combined with an overall investment of $803 million. The two Dundee plants are part of a five-factory global venture building a family of 1.8L, 2.0L, and 2.4L engines jointly developed by DaimlerChrysler, Hyundai Motor Company, and Mitsubishi Motors Corp. When all five plants are fully operational, the combined project will be the largest engine manufacturing operation in the world. Annual production will reach 1.8 million units, including production sites in Asan and Hwasung, South Korea, and Shiga, Japan. The significant savings achieved in design, purchasing and manufacturing is going back into the product itself in the form of technology and refinement. While Hyundai led design responsibility for the base engine, the Chrysler Group and Mitsubishi made significant engineering contributions to the design. Through the involvement of all three automakers, durability testing for the World Engine exceeded 16 million customer equivalent miles.