It is no secret that Stellantis is not having an incredible yr. Neither is it a secret that its North American manufacturers underneath Fiat Chrysler Vehicles are feeling strain to show issues round. Now, they must do it with out the usage of the Arizona Proving Grounds, a 4,000-acre testing facility that Chrysler bought manner again in 2007.
It is unknown if a purchaser is already lined up for the proving grounds, which focuses on hot-weather testing. In line with CNBC, Stellantis will finish operations on the facility by the tip of the yr. An organization spokesperson confirmed the information to Motor1, offering the next assertion in an e mail:
“Stellantis continues to search for alternatives to enhance effectivity and optimize its footprint to make sure future competitiveness in immediately’s quickly altering world market. As agreed to throughout 2023 UAW negotiations, the Firm is constant to market the Arizona Proving Grounds on the market and due to this fact, will stop use of the ability by the tip of the yr.
The Firm is working with the UAW to supply proving floor workers particular packages or they’ll select to observe their work in a switch of operations. Alternatively, workers may very well be positioned on indefinite layoff which might entitle them to pay and advantages for 2 years.”
In line with statistics printed by Stellantis, the Arizona Proving Grounds at the moment employs 69 folks and has 70 lane miles of roadway. Apart from hot-weather testing, the situation is nice for automobile evaluations in dusty climates and is residence to an 18-acre automobile dynamics space, amongst many different issues.
The sale will not go away FCA with none testing services in North America. The Chelsea Proving Grounds west of Detroit has served Chrysler by way of its varied iterations for many years. It started operation in 1954 and matches the Arizona facility in dimension at 4,000 acres. A complete of 85 % of auto testing for FCA takes place at Chelsea, although its northern location is just not nicely suited to high-temperature situations. For that, CNBC studies the corporate will use one other Arizona location owned by Toyota.
As for different Stellantis properties, there are nonetheless a number of areas that would shut down earlier than all is alleged and performed. That features FCA’s 500-acre headquarters positioned north of Detroit in Auburn Hills.
