Chrysler to build new engine for Fiat 500

Chrysler Group LLC has announced it will invest US$179 million to build a new, fuel-efficient four-cylinder engine in Michigan, using Fiat technology, that will be used in the North American-built Fiat 500 in 2011.

The 1.4-litre Fully Integrated Robotized Engine (FIRE) will be built at the company’s Global Engine Manufacturing Alliance (GEMA) plant in Michigan, creating up to 573 new jobs industry-wide, with up to 155 of them in the Chrysler Group.

FIRE is a collaboration between Chrysler Group and Fiat powertrain groups, and will include Fiat’s advanced technologies to reduce emissions and improve fuel economy.

Engine production will begin in the fourth quarter of 2010. The first application will be the Fiat 500, which will go into production in 2011.

Chrysler has two plants at the GEMA complex and will produce the FIRE at the South Plant. The North Plant, opened in October 2005, produces the World Gas Engine, a family of naturally-aspirated four-cylinder engines.