| Toledo Assembly Complex | |
| Operated: | 1910–present |
| Location: | Toledo, Ohio |
| Industry: | Automotive |
| Products: | Off-road vehicles |
| Employees: | 6,093 (2022) |
| Area: | 312acres |
| Volume: | 3640000square feet[1] |
| Address: | 4400 Chrysler Drive |
| Owner: |
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The Toledo Assembly Complex is a 3640000square feet automotive factory complex in Toledo, Ohio. Now owned by Stellantis North America, sections of the facility have operated as an automobile assembly plant since 1910, initially for Willys-Overland. The Toledo complex has assembled Jeeps since the 1940s and comprises two factories, Toledo North and Toledo South. The latter includes the Stickney Plant and the Parkway Annex.
In 2018, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles 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 launched in 2020.[2]
The "Toledo South Assembly Plant" is the original Jeep CJ assembly factory. It was rebuilt to manufacture 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, the Parkway facility has done basic assembly and painting of the Jeep Wrangler.
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 cars occurred at Stickney, but facility constraints required that bodies 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.
The Stickney Plant (41.6944°N -83.5253°W) was opened in 1942 by Autolite and sold to Kaiser-Jeep in 1964. It was a machining and engine plant until 1981 when American Motors Corporation (AMC) converted it for vehicle production. The original Jeep Grand Wagoneer was made there from 1981 until the SJ model was discontinued in 1991. After that, Chrysler moved the final assembly of the Wrangler to this facility there.
Chrysler renamed this facility to Toledo Assembly Plant after the automaker acquired AMC in 1987.[3]
The Parkway Annex (41.6825°N -83.5653°W) was opened in 1904 as a bicycle factory. Its use as an automobile assembly plant dates from 1910 when Willys-Overland purchased it. The plant began producing Jeep vehicles in the 1940s.
Chrysler also renamed this factory to the Toledo Assembly Plant after acquiring AMC in 1987. Basic assembly and painting of the Jeep Cherokee (1983 through 2000) and building bodies and painting of the Jeep Wrangler by Chrysler were at the Parkway plant until 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 year vehicles.
The Parkway plant included landmark smokestacks spelling out "Overland" in bricks. It was home to military Jeep production and the Jeep museum. One-third of the plant was demolished in 2002, including the former museum, and the remainder was later razed to the ground. 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. The agency redeveloped the property as an industrial park. It 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, was dedicated in August 2013, with a plaque honoring the former plants' numerous workers.[6]
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, which operates the body shop. Both employ their employees and control their operations. While the suppliers may make most of the parts, Chrysler does the final assembly.[7] [8] The Toledo Supplier Park is 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).
The "Toledo North Assembly Plant" (41.6961°N -83.5194°W) was opened in 2001, building the unibody Jeep Liberty. The 2140000square feet building is on 200acres at 4400 Chrysler Drive. Construction began in 1997.[9] The plant employs almost 7,000.[9] Production of the all-new 2014 Jeep Cherokee (KL) started at the plant in 2013. In 2017, Chrysler moved production of the Cherokee KL to the Belvidere Assembly Plant in Illinois. The Toledo North Assembly Plant retooled to begin producing the 2018 Jeep Wrangler (JL) Series.