Toledo Complex

The Toledo Assembly Complex is a 3,640,000 sq ft (338,000 m2) automotive factory complex located in Toledo, Ohio. Now owned by Stellantis North America, sections of the facility have operated as an automobile assembly plant since 1910, originally for Willys-Overland. The Toledo complex has assembled Jeeps since the 1940s, and comprises two factories: Toledo North and Toledo South, which itself includes the Stickney Plant and the Parkway Annex.

Toledo Assembly Complex
Operated1910–present
LocationToledo, Ohio
Coordinates41.69°N 83.53°W / 41.69; -83.53
IndustryAutomotive
ProductsOff-road vehicles
Employees6,093 (2022)[1]
Area312 acres (1.26 km2)[1]
Volume3,640,000 sq ft (338,000 m2)[1]
Address4400 Chrysler Drive
Owner(s)

FCA (the predecessor of Stellantis NA) announced that the Toledo Machining Plant would assemble the power electronics module and components for the Jeep Wrangler Plug-in Hybrid which was launched in 2020.[2]

Toledo South
The original Willys-Overland Co. factory (1915)

The "Toledo South Assembly Plant" is the original Jeep CJ assembly factory. It was rebuilt for the manufacture of the JK Wrangler for Jeep, starting in August 2006. The plant consists of two interconnected units, the "Stickney Plant" (4000 Stickney Ave) and the "Parkway Annex" (1000 Jeep Parkway). In recent years, basic assembly and painting of the Jeep Wrangler have been done in the Parkway facility.

The antiquated arrangement of the old operation included operations spread through a disorganized array of buildings which required that vehicles and components be moved through multiple building levels. The final assembly of vehicles took place at Stickney, but facility constraints required that bodies first be painted at Parkway and then moved through tunnels and across bridges to reach the assembly line. Both the Stickney and Parkway sites were replaced by Toledo Supplier Park in 2007. They have a department called Jitney Repair.

Stickney

The Stickney Plant (41°41′40″N 83°31′31″W) was opened in 1942 by Autolite and sold to Kaiser-Jeep in 1964. It was used as a machining and engine plant until 1981, when it was converted for vehicle production by American Motors Corporation (AMC). It produced the Jeep Grand Wagoneer from 1981 to 1991, when final assembly of the Wrangler was moved there. In 1987, when Chrysler acquired AMC, it was renamed Toledo Assembly Plant.[3]

Parkway
Smokestacks dating to 1910 at the Parkway Annex, Toledo Complex. The outer stacks were demolished in 2007

The Parkway Annex (41°40′57″N 83°33′55″W) was opened in 1904 as a bicycle factory. Its use as an automobile assembly plant dates from 1910, when it was purchased by Willys-Overland. The plant began producing the Jeep in the 1940s. It was renamed the Toledo Assembly Plant when Chrysler purchased American Motors (AMC) in 1987. Basic assembly and painting of the Jeep Cherokee (1983-2000) and building bodies and painting of the Jeep Wrangler were done at the Parkway plant to 2006, when it was closed. Jeep Wrangler assembly was completed at the Stickney plant from 1993 until the Toledo Supplier Park opened in 2006 for the 2007 model.

The Parkway plant included landmark smokestacks spelling out "Overland" in bricks. It was home to military Jeep production, as well as the Jeep museum. One-third of the plant was demolished in 2002, including the former museum, and the remainder is being demolished. Two of the three "Overland" smokestacks, a Toledo landmark since 1915, were demolished in June 2007.[4]

In 2010 the site was acquired by the Toledo–Lucas County Port Authority. It was redeveloped as an industrial park which now includes a new Dana facility producing Jeep axles and a Detroit Manufacturing Systems plant producing instrument clusters.[5] The remaining stack, left alone by Chrysler LLC, was dedicated in August 2013, with a plaque honoring the former plants' numerous workers.[6]

Toledo Supplier Park

Toledo Supplier Park was opened in 2007 by DaimlerChrysler to produce the new Jeep Wrangler. The name comes from the two on-site suppliers who make different parts for the Wrangler. There is Mobis North America (formerly OMMC) owned by Hyundai Mobis, which assembles the chassis, axles and power train, and KUKA Toledo Production Operations (KTPO), a wholly owned subsidiary of KUKA Systems North America LLC, which operates the body shop. Both employ their own employees and control their own operations. While the suppliers may make most of the parts, final assembly is done by Chrysler.[7][8] The Toledo Supplier Park is located on the same site as the Stickney Plant. The Jeep Wrangler JK was produced at this plant, until it was retooled to build the 2019 Jeep Gladiator (JT).

Toledo North

The "Toledo North Assembly Plant" (41°41′46″N 83°31′10″W) was opened in 2001, building the unibody Jeep Liberty. The 2.14-million-square-foot (199,000 m2) plant sits on 200 acres (81 ha) at 4400 Chrysler Drive. Construction began in 1997.[9] The plant employs almost 7,000 workers.[9] Production of the all-new 2014 Jeep Cherokee (KL) began at the plant in 2013. In 2017, production of the Cherokee KL was moved to the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois. The Toledo North Assembly Plant retooled to begin producing the 2018 Jeep Wrangler (JL) Series.

Vehicles produced

Current

Past

References
  1. "Toledo Assembly Complex". Stellantis North America. December 2022. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  2. Schoenberger, Robert (August 12, 2018). "FCA taps Toledo Machining for plug-in hybrid Jeep Wrangler components". todaysmotorvehicles.com. Archived from the original on March 4, 2021. Retrieved April 13, 2023.
  3. "Toledo Supplier Park". American Auto Worker. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  4. "Part of Toledo's Automotive History Falling". Toledo Blade. October 20, 2006. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  5. McNabb, Mark (August 25, 2016). "Former Toledo Jeep Plant Site Now Home To Instrument Cluster Supplier". Top Speed. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
  6. "Smokestack dedicated to Jeep workers". Toledo Blade. August 29, 2013. Retrieved July 24, 2019.
  7. McKinnon, Julie M. (February 11, 2007). "Bumpy at first, assembly smooths out for Wrangler". The Toledo Blade. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  8. "Chrysler Group's Toledo Supplier Park Opens the Doors to Production of All-New 2007 Jeep Wrangler". The Auto Channel. 2006. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  9. "Toledo North Assembly Plant". daimlerchrysler.com. 2008. Archived from the original on June 6, 2008. Retrieved December 2, 2013.
  10. McKinnon, Julie. "Nation's longest-operating auto plant faces final days". Offroaders.com. Retrieved July 7, 2014.

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