When Fiat Chrysler Automobiles announced on Sunday that it will invest $1 billion in its Warren and Toledo plants, officials in Macomb County were pleased, but not surprised.
The Warren Truck Plant is one of several Macomb County auto facilities that have received hefty upgrades in recent years. The sprawling factory is located essentially down the street from FCA’s Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, or SHAP, which is about to receive a $1.5 billion retooling. Overall, the Detroit Three has invested $4.8 billion in Macomb since 2010, and the industrywide capitalization in the county reached $7.4 billion in that timeframe, with 122 separate projects of $1 million or more.
County Executive Mark Hackel now has his eye on making Macomb a home for the burgeoning autonomous vehicles sector.
“Macomb County is better equipped than any other county in the nation to deploy connected and autonomous vehicle capabilities,” Hackel said. “We are at the intersection of world-class production and next-generation technological innovation. The infrastructure and advanced workforce needed to support the emerging demands of this industry exist here.”
FCA, Ford Motor Company and General Motors employ more than 35,000 people in this suburban community at 10 facilities that cover more than 25 million square feet.
The newly announced FCA investment will create another 2,200 jobs in Warren and Toledo combined as the Jeep Wagoneer will return and will be built at the Warren plant. U.S. production of the next generation of the company’s top seller, the Ram pickup, reportedly will shift to SHAP.
As the domestic industry comes off of a record 17.5 million vehicle sales in 2016, Ford and GM also remain heavily dependent on the Macomb County workforce for their success.
Ford F-150
The Ford F-Series Super Duty pickup, announced Monday as the Motor Trend 2017 Truck of the Year, features an engine built at the Ford Romeo Engine Plant in northern Macomb. In 2014, the Chevy Corvette Stingray designed at the General Motors Tech Center in Warren won Car of the Year. In 2013, the Cadillac ATS, also designed at the storied Tech Center, won Car of the Year and the Warren-built Ram 1500 won Truck of the Year. This year, the Ford F-Series Super Duty is the contender with Macomb County ties.
Numerous Big Three vehicles rely on suppliers in Macomb as the county includes approximately 500 auto-related companies.
As a result, the county has about 65,000 manufacturing jobs that provide the core for the county’s economic resurgence since the 2008-10 recession. Macomb in 2015 ranked third among the nation’s 3,100 counties in manufacturing job growth. And in November, Macomb employment hit 431,820, the highest in more than 15 years, which puts the county near the record reached in May 1999 of 437,251 jobs.
